Does he ask for sacrifices or promise 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 follow, in a context marked by resilient but moderate growth and limited room for budgetary maneuver, a heavy debt whose weight. represents 137% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and the absolute need to project an image “credible” to the financial markets.
On Wednesday, October 9, Council President Giorgia Meloni took out her phone to record a video message to her constituents, where she said she was reading “fanciful statements according to which [elle voudrait] collect fees.” “But it was the left-wing governments that did it. We reduced them. » Then he promised not to “new sacrifice” Italians would not be asked.
For a transalpine right whose deep identity is linked to a discourse in defense of taxpayers, the challenge is also to please its bases in the face of a cycle of three regional elections that will begin at the end of October. In this sense, m.me Meloni came to put out 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 also 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 the contributions that companies that have benefited from an economic situation linked to the current crisis must pay. The arms sector and the large banks that have taken advantage of the high interest rates decided by the European Central Bank were the specific target of Mr. Giorgetti, who however spoke of the need for an effort also led by “individuals (…) small, medium and large companies ».
The market reaction was severe, such as when, in the summer of 2023, the Italian executive announced a tax on lenders’ surplus profits, before being forced to resize his project. Following the statements of the Minister of Economy and Finance, the country’s benchmark stock index fell 1.5%. Giancarlo Giorgetti is also politically isolated, as his allies in Forza Italia (center-right) and representatives of his own party reject the idea of a more restrictive fiscal policy. Giorgia Meloni thus announced a reduction in income taxes and the maintenance of aid to low-income families in 2025.
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