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ROME (Reuters) – The European Union (EU) will initiate excessive public deficit proceedings against Italy and other European countries, Italy’s economy minister said on Wednesday, even as Rome could lower its forecasts growth for this year and next.
“We expect the European Commission to recommend to the Council (of the EU) to open an excessive deficit procedure against us and other countries,” Giancarlo Giorgetti told a parliamentary hearing.
“Against us, France, and 10 other” countries, said the minister.
The procedure would require Italy to reduce its structural deficit by at least 0.5% of GDP each year, but Giancarlo Giorgetti clarified that the budget announced in September already respected this condition.
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“We are not idiots, we started the negotiations knowing what scenario we were committing to,” declared the minister.
Italy expects a budget deficit for 2024 close to its target of 4.3% set in September, therefore higher than the 3% threshold set by European rules. The government also plans to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio by 0.6% per year between 2023 and 2026.
According to the Economic and Financial Document that Giorgia Meloni’s government must ratify by April 10, and obtained by the daily Il Sole 24 Ore, the deficit should fall below 4% next year.
Furthermore, the government now anticipates growth of 1% in 2024 compared to 1.2% last September, adds Il Sole 24 Ore.
Italy’s economic growth for 2025 will also be lowered by 0.2 points, to 1.2% compared to 1.4% in previous forecasts, details the Italian daily.
(Written by Alvise Armellini, French version Bertrand Boucey, edited by Zhifan Liu and Blandine Hénault)
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