It is not an excess of optimism but realism, based on the latest economic data which are more favorable than expected. This is why the Government - with a lightning-fast Council of Ministers that lasted a total of 33 minutes - updated the Def, which is a prelude to the new Budget Law, raising GDP estimates to 1,5% not only for 2017 but also for 2018 and 2019 and predicting that from 2018 the public debt will fall below 130% of GDP.
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who traces the improvement in the economic situation also to the reforms initiated by the Renzi government and continued by his, ensures in any case that the next Budget Law, which must be approved by 20 October, "will not be depressive" but, as always, it will try to reconcile balanced public finances with selective support for growth.
Among the measures being studied by the Government there is the scrapping-bis of the tax bills and the complete elimination of the safeguard clauses on VAT and excise duties while a final decision has not yet been taken on the adjustment of the retirement age due to the more high life expectancy.
With the maneuver in the pipeline, the Government also intends to lay the foundations for achieving a balanced budget in 2019.
