The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, convened her Council of Ministers at Palazzo Chigi on Monday evening to move forward with the 2023 Budget Law, which will focus on tackling inflation and the high cost of energy.
The government coalition is finalizing the details of next year’s accounts, which will include a pension reform, the reduction of VAT on basic necessities, fuel discounts or a cut in the so-called Citizens’ Income, as reported by ‘Corriere della Sera’.
Specifically, the first budgets of the ultra-right leader –which she will present at a press conference this Tuesday– will include a package of measures of 32,000 million euros to combat the escalation of prices faced by the transalpine country.
Among the most outstanding measures is an increase in minimum pensions from 523 to 600 euros, a decision that had already been advanced by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, according to the Adnkronos agency.
The Italian government is also expected to announce on Tuesday a reduction of up to 5 percent of VAT on basic necessities for children such as diapers, bottles or baby food, which is currently at 22 percent.
It will also extend a social bonus for lower incomes that would serve for purchases of basic necessities and that today is granted to over 65 years and parents of children under three years with special requirements, has detailed the agency.
However, the Meloni government has announced that it will put an end as of 2024 to the Citizenship Income, a subsidy-like allowance approved by the 5 Star Movement (M5S) in 2018 for people in social exclusion and the unemployed.
More specifically, the Italian Executive intends to exclude employed people from this measure as of January 1, 2024, while in 2023 it will reduce the aid to just eight months.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Italy will enter recession in 2023, after forecasting a contraction of 0.2 percent for next year. The government, for its part, expects the Italian economy to shrink to 0.6 percent growth, more than two points less than in 2022.
