Calling for sacrifices or promising to avoid them? While the Italian finance bill for 2025 must be presented before October 20, the government has issued dissonant messages on the fiscal policy to be pursued, in a context marked by resilient but moderate growth and limited budgetary room for maneuver. , a heavy debt whose weight amounts to 137% of gross domestic product (GDP) and the absolute need to project an image “credible” to financial markets.
On Wednesday, October 9, council president Giorgia Meloni grabbed her phone to record a video message to her constituents, where she said she was reading “fanciful statements according to which [elle voudrait] raise taxes.” “But it was the left-wing governments that did it. We reduce them. » She then promised that no “new sacrifice” would not be asked of the Italians.
For a transalpine right whose deep identity is linked to a speech in defense of taxpayers, the challenge is also to please its base in view of a cycle of three regional elections which will open at the end of October. In this regard, Mme Meloni came to quell a fire started on Thursday October 3 by his Minister of Economy and Finance, Giancarlo Giorgetti (League, far right). In an interview with the Bloomberg agency, he too had used the term “sacrifices”but by presenting these efforts as a necessity “for everyone”.
Severe market reaction
On this occasion, the minister announced an increase in contributions that companies having benefited from an economic situation linked to the current crises will have to pay. The arms sector and the big banks which took advantage of the high interest rates decided by the European Central Bank were specifically targeted by Mr Giorgetti, who however spoke of the need for an effort also led by “individuals (…) small, medium and large businesses ».
The market reaction was severe, as when, in the summer of 2023, the Italian executive announced a tax on lenders’ excess profits, before being forced to resize its project. After the declarations of the Minister of Economy and Finance, the country’s benchmark stock index fell by 1.5%. Giancarlo Giorgetti also finds himself politically isolated, with his allies in Forza Italia (center right) and representatives of his own party rejecting the idea of a more restrictive tax policy. Giorgia Meloni thus announced a reduction in income taxes and the maintenance of aid for low-income families in 2025.
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