The amount that the Italian government will allocate to respond to the coronavirus emergency that is blocking the entire country is soaring. Come on 7,5 billion promised on March 5th it rises to 25 billion.
COUNT'S ANNOUNCEMENT
"We have just approved the allocation of an extraordinary sum, 25 billion not to be used immediately, but certainly to be used to deal with all the difficulties of this emergency" announced the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, during the press conference held together with the Minister of Economy, Roberto Gualtieri, and the Minister of Labour, Nunzia Catalfo.
There will therefore be 25 billion in terms of net balance to be financed: technically they are 20 billion in terms of net debt, a figure that corresponds to 1,1% of the Italian GDP.
RELATIONS WITH EUROPE
Conte then confirmed the total collaboration of the European institutions: “Yesterday Lagarde was also in touch with the European Council (President of the ECB, ed.): great acknowledgments eainsights that more liquidity is needed and all the tools to deal with this emergency". Thanks also to the president of the EU commission, Ursula Von der Leyen: “This afternoon I will have a videoconference with President Ursula Von der Leyen who had declared herself available to come to Italy. I thanked her and told her that right now we can work as quickly as possible with a video conference”.
THE CLOSURE OF LOMBARDY
The Premier then went back to talking about the hypothesis of “close all businesses in the Northern Territories” to respond to the requests from Lombardy and Veneto: “It isn't there no closure towards more restrictive measures by the government, it being understood that we have already adopted a decree which introduced a regime extended to the whole peninsula. But we follow the contagion and are available to evaluate the requests that may come from Lombardy and other Regions ".
Ready the reaction of Municipalities and the Lombardy Region. The latter sent a letter to the government – published by AdnKronos - formalizing the request to close all "non-essential" activities. According to the Region, only shops that sell food and basic necessities (therefore also pharmacies and parapharmacies) must remain open. The closures should instead affect bars, restaurants, shopping centres, markets, craft businesses (hairdressers, beauty centres, etc.), tourist reception facilities, canteen services, tertiary and professional services. Also requested are the suspension of procedural, administrative and insurance activities and the reduction of the public transport service.
even the president of Veneto, Luca Zaia, he made it known that he had asked for more restrictions: “If this continues, everything will be forced to close,” he said at a press conference. “Today the match is in the hands of the Venetians. I want to see the empty streets, the lights off in the clubs, the empty beaches, the deserted squares. Beyond the law: don't go to friends' dinners, don't have family gatherings, don't go out. Each family unit must remain isolated at home".
Along the same lines the president of Piedmont, Alberto Cirio, who during a speech on the microphones of Radio 24 said: "If the government decides that Lombardy will take this step, I believe that Piedmont too will have to be understood in some way". “If the words of President Fontana – Cirio specified – go in the direction of closing everything, I believe that great attention should be paid to this reflection. This is why I submitted it to the crisis unit and to the regional scientific committee, in order to already have an opinion to send to the government today.
THE ECONOMIC MEASURES
The more technical details on the upcoming economic measures, as per tradition, were provided by the Minister of Economy, who announced a two-step plan: the first part of the resources will be used immediately, the second later, to support interventions to be defined.
"The allocated resources will be used in part in the first decree, which we are preparing and which we plan to approve this week on Friday with resources for 12 billion“. What is being announced today, March 11, is “technically – explained Gualtieri – the request for an authorization from Parliament to allocate up to 20 billion in terms of debt, 25 billion in terms of appropriations. The level of deficit depends on how much will actually be employed. The first measure will use half of these resources, the use of the other half will also depend on any European resources. It is still early to say the level of deficit that will be reached”.
“It is possible – reiterated the minister – that some interventions make use of common European resources to lighten the impact on the state budget which is in any case capable of supporting this effort”.
What measures will be financed? Details will come with the decree. For the moment Gualtieri has spoken of "work support”, reassuring citizens that “: no one will lose their job for the coronavirus”. The word then passed to Minister Catalfo who announced "special rules for seasonal workers and the self-employed", among which stands out "the suspension of payments and social security and welfare contributions in order to protect all sectors".
In the decree there will then be "a special redundancy fund that goes to protect all workers regardless of the sector to which they belong” and “an expansion of the social safety nets is envisaged, with the possibility of using the wage integration fund for companies with 5 to 15 employees”.
Among the measures being studied are the suspension of mortgages for incomes of less than 30 thousand euros, a 15-day parental leave for fathers and mothers and babysitter vouchers.
THE ANSWERS OF EUROPE
Europe seems willing to grant all possible flexibility in order to allow the country to defeat the coronavirus.
"The EU stability pact must be used flexibly", said the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, referring to the videoconference with the European institutions on the covid-19 emergency. “Italy cannot be told in this situation that it should not invest in its health system. It is clear that spending on this must take precedence". "The situation is extraordinary", he added, recalling that the possibility of using flexibility "is already contained in the pact".
In anticipation of the meeting scheduled for tomorrow, 12 March, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, makes his voice heard. The former number one of the International Monetary Fund he called on Union leaders to move urgently in order to combat the coronavirus emergency. The risks are very high, it could in fact happen “a scenario like that of the great financial crisis of 2008”. This was reported by Blooberg according to which the appeal would have arrived in tonight's conference call with European leaders. The ECB, for its part, is willing to adopt various measures to deal with the spread of the virus, looking at all the tools available, including very low-cost financing and liquidity.
