The amount of the maneuver increases. In a last-minute move, the Government has decided to increase the amount to 18 billion euros, 2 billion more than previously planned.
“In this context in which strong elements of uncertainty remain, the government's commitment is to continue, on the one hand, its action to support the purchasing power of families, businesses and social services, and on the other to ensure the sustainability of public finances,” said the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti after having illustrated to the Council of Ministers the Budget planning document approved yesterday and which must be sent to Brussels by this evening. For the green light, 2026 Budget Law It will take a few more days. The reason? To reach an agreement with the banks that will guarantee part of the necessary coverage. The Government's goal is to take another 2-3 days to negotiate and then give the final approval of the measure will be on Friday 17 October. "We've approved the DPB, and the budget is fairly well-defined. Details will be available on Friday," Giorgetti promised. However, the road remains uphill.
The maneuver and the coverage knot
"In addition to the improved public finances, also due to the remodeling of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), revenues are boosted by resources raised through financial and insurance intermediaries, and expenditures are boosted by changes in budget allocations," a statement from the Ministry of the Economy and Finance reads. Translated into numbers, of the 18 billion needed to finance the budget, 10,8 will come from the shopping of the ministries and from a remodulation of the PNRR, while 7,2 billion have been filed under the heading "new entries". And this is where the 4,5 billion that the government is asking from banks and – officially since yesterday – from insurance companies, which is causing so much buzz in the financial sector
The contribution of banks and insurance companies
The government has always assured that it does not want to reach a conflict, but the discontent among bankers is evident. Also because the first repercussions were already seen on Tuesday Bag, with all sector stocks in the red pending clarification on the amount and application methods of the contribution that credit institutions will be required to pay to the State.
In order to raise the necessary resources, the government has thought of a double track for banks: on the one hand the reduction of the rate from 40% to 26% to unblock the distribution of the so-calledyou will get extra profits from 2023 to which will be added the 26% tax on dividends. And from here between 2,8 and 3 billion should come. On the other hand, a new postponement of deductions for DTAs, deferred tax assets, already agreed last year. And from this chapter, revenues of between 900 million and 1,3 billion are expected for 2026. The banks' contribution will then be added to that of the insurance. There are two hypotheses in this case: taxing the car policies for driver-related injuries or compulsory insurance policies anti-disaster.
What's the problem? While the insurance industry is currently silent, awaiting further clarification, discontent is spreading among bankers—a united front. On Tuesday, the ABI's executive committee unanimously approved "the extraordinary continuation of multi-year contributions to the State Budget, in the same logic agreed last year, for the relaunch of the economy and for social solidarity". This is stated in a note from the ABI, specifying that the board unanimously approved the report by director Marco Elio Rottigni who had been charged "with the in-depth analysis relating to last year's agreement on the further contribution of banks to the State Budget for the relaunch of the economy". This translates into a yes to the new postponement of the DTAs with its possible impact on liquidity, but a no to any type of contribution that has a impact on the income statement or on capital.
To resolve the issue, the government has decided to postpone the approval of the 2026 Budget Law, initially scheduled for Tuesday the 14th, and take three additional days, until Friday the 17th, to reach an agreement with the sector. During these same days, however, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti will be in Washington for the IMF's annual meeting. His deputies will be negotiating, with the hope—how faint, at the moment, it's uncertain—of reaching an agreement.
