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MNI EXCLUSIVE: Italy To Tie EUR32 Bln Payments To 2019 Income

Italy's government will tie most of its payments from a EUR32 billion relief package to the 2019 incomes of small companies' and workers, ensuring a wide distribution of funds despite the preference of Prime Minister Mario Draghi for focusing on sectors with potential for growth, Finance Ministry officials told MNI.

Two thirds of the package will consist of provisions for tax rebates to companies as well as direct help for workers via tax breaks and welfare payments, channelled by citizens' income and the unemployment fund, officials said. The money will be spent in a little over six months, with companies with revenues of less than EUR10 million eligible for tax rebates of up to 30%.

The measures, which will drop requirements to file for relief using codes classifying economic activity, will be enacted by decree this week, finalising a relief package passed in January in one of the final acts in office of former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Officials said Draghi had not abandoned his plans to make government aid more focused on growth, and that a new fiscal package announced last Friday will be more selective in its approach when details are made public.

"We haven't changed our mind. But we have to give more time to some companies to see if they can adapt," an official said.

TOUGH DEBATE

The signing off on most of the package by Finance Minister Daniel Franco came after tough debate within Draghi's governing coalition, with the far-right League pushing for more restrictive criteria to qualify for aid, while the populist Five-Star Movement and centre-left Democratic Party wanted a more generous approach, officials said.

Some EUR5 billion will be destined to reinforcing Italy's Covid vaccination programme, buying more vaccines and hiring more workers. Another EUR290 million will be paid to parents as a "babysitter bonus" compensating them for time that children were unable to attend school, and to fund the prohibition of layoffs until June.

Still to be decided is whether to pardon some corporate tax debts from the years between 2000 and 2015.

The measures reflect the government's view that aid should concentrate on employees, providing cash and training, rather than sustaining companies which may not be viable in the longer-term, officials said.
MNI Rome Bureau | +34-672-478-840 | santi.pinol.ext@marketnews.com
MNI Rome Bureau | +34-672-478-840 | santi.pinol.ext@marketnews.com

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