Giorga Meloni’s Italian government has abolished the “Reddito di Cittadinanza” introduced in 2019. She needs the money for other projects. FAZ correspondent Matthias Rüb on the financial plans of the new right-wing government.
SRF News: Where is the Italian government focusing on the budget for the coming year?
Matthias Rüb: Overall, spending will not be greatly increased. The forecast deficit increases from 3.4 to 4.5 percent of GDP. The debt ratio should remain at 150 percent. 21 of the 34 billion euros in additional expenditure flow into cushioning the increased energy costs for families.
Meloni succeeds her predecessor Draghi in the budget law.
In addition, 5 billion euros are to flow into reducing non-wage labor costs. With her first budget law, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is actually following her non-partisan predecessor Mario Draghi.
How much money can the government save by eliminating citizen income?
Savings of 700 million euros are expected for 2023, so not very much. That is about the same amount as is currently spent on citizen income per month. The “Reddito” will not be completely abolished until 2024, but then another form of support for the poor or the unemployed is to be introduced. It is therefore not entirely clear what the overall financial impact of abolishing the “Reddito” will be.
Legend:
Reuters/Ciro de Luca
An example: In the northern Neapolitan district of Scampia, 15,000 out of a total of 40,000 residents are currently receiving the “Reddito”. The novel “Ghomorra” by Roberto Saviano is set in the quarter. Now the right-wingers say most recipients are work-shy people who didn’t want a job anyway. The left, on the other hand – and especially the Five Stars – say there are no jobs for 15,000 people.
Who is affected by the dismantling at “Reddito” and how badly?
The Five Star Movement says 660,000 Italians will not receive a Reddito next year. Many of them are between 50 and 60 years old, making them difficult to place on the job market. A total of around 1.7 million people are currently receiving this grant. More than a third of the recipients will be affected by the reform of the “Reddito” next year.
What is the government doing to prevent poverty from increasing as a result?
According to the current status, anyone who loses the “Reddito” next year will not receive a replacement, apart from the grants for gas and electricity.
Legend:
Imago/Fabrizio Corradetti
When the “Reddito” was introduced in 2019, Matteo Salvini was deputy prime minister under Giuseppe Conte, now he holds the same post under Giorgia Meloni. This is a wonderful example of how flexibly Italian politicians deal with their convictions, says FAZ correspondent Matthias Rüb. “Salvini has rowed back from right-wing populists to the political center, because it is not he, but Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti who is in charge of economic and financial policy issues.” The budget for next year bears his handwriting, says Rüb.
How big is the percentage of abuse in the “Reddito”?
Clearly, there is abuse – that’s the case with every social benefit. Meloni’s predecessor Draghi had already tightened the conditions somewhat by only being able to reject two job offers without having any consequences for the purchase of the “Reddito”.
The fraud with the ‹Reddito› is probably no greater than with other social benefits.
According to estimates, since the introduction of “Reddito” in 2019, fraud cases worth 288 million euros have been uncovered. But there are also economists who assume that up to 30 percent of the recipients are not as poor as they make out they are in order to receive the support. Overall, however, the fraud with “Reddito” is probably no greater than with other social benefits.
Could the abolition of the «Reddito» lead to protests?
In the Neapolitan district of Scampia, 64 percent voted for the Cinque Stelle, which is responsible for the introduction of the “Reddito” in 2019. This shows that the five stars have a lot of support in the south of Italy. There could therefore be protests in these regions.
The conversation was conducted by Roger Brändlin.