The Minister of Economy Giancarlo Giorgetti intervening at 100th edition of savings day, he was careful not to address the topic of the day, namely the slowdown in our GDP growth in the third quarter, with a performance lower than the European one and even lower than that of a country in recession like Germany. Giorgetti who increasingly has the bearing and face of a man who alone must carry on his shoulders every day the heavy burden of our debt, he claimed the successes of his approach to budgetary policy, but otherwise he was unable or unwilling to indicate more ambitious objectives, those that would truly suggest a "turning point", such as that claimed in words by President Meloni.
The Governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, he said it clearly: the first pillar of the defense of savings is the strength of the underlying real economy. And we don't have this strength. We did a little better in past years, but now, with the extraordinary incentives created first by the Conte II government (the building super bonus) and then by the need to counteract the economic effects of the Covid pandemic, our country risks going back to being the tail light of the European convoy, which certainly does not shine for speed. And besides, that type of incentive cannot be maintained indefinitely because it causes an unsustainable increase in public debt and the related amount of interest that we must pay every year (between 80 and 90 billion) and that takes away precious resources from supporting welfare and citizen services.
Of course, Giorgetti can well remember that thanks to the containment of public spending, interest rates have slightly dropped and the confidence of international markets in Treasury issues is very strong as demonstrated by the avalanche of requests for latest Bot auctions. But he did not want to address the fundamental issues that are blocking our economy and that have been mentioned so many times by experts. Essentially, it is a question of avoiding spending public money to directly give gifts to citizens, and instead focusing on investment incentives, on improving the legal environment in which businesses must operate (Justice and Public Administration), on training and scientific research as the basis of the great transformations in production technologies that we will have to face.
In order for savings not only to reduce the risks of unforeseen events but also to be perceived by families as a way to improve their economic and social prospects and therefore have a higher propensity for productive investment, a real change in the culture of our political system and also of citizens is needed. Even the president Sergio Mattarella he recalled how the low salaries of the young generations do not allow them to save and how it would be necessary to offer greater protection to savers, including fiscal protection, as punctually indicated by the president of the ABI Antonio Patuelli.
In other words bonuses need to be contained that even in this latest budget law there are and that in any case all the political groups in Parliament continue to claim and expect to reintroduce with specific amendments. In fact, in addition to the confirmation of the reduction of the tax wedge last year, there was a small Extension of the Irpef reduction for the environment, and the flat tax continues to give unjustified benefits to categories that are already among the worst tax payers. The same tax agreement is not taking off because it is poorly conceived and always addresses the same social classes that are convinced they are safe from the clutches of the tax authorities. Instead, incentives for business investments have been cut with certainly not positive effects in the medium term.
- Italians continue to save, but invest most of their assets in mattone or stocks of companies outside our country and even outside Europe. We lack confidence and reasonable certainty in the stability of economic policies. Even the tax system is not favorable to financial savings, except for government bondsThis Government boasts of offering stability remaining in the saddle until the end of the legislature, but for now the concrete choices made, not only in the economy but also in the crucial reforms (competition, Justice and Public Administration), do not seem to go in the right direction for reduce general uncertainty and the risks inherent in all investment choices.
