In the columns of Corriere della Sera, the economist Marcello Messori explains how, according to him, the problem could be solved problem of late payment of credits that Italian companies have with the public administration.
According to the accounting rules of the European Union, commercial debts of the public administration become part of the public debt only with the deed of liquidation or certification; the economist says he wants to change this course. The idea, which Messori and Franco Bassanini have summarized in a file by Astrid, is that all overdue and uncontested state debts are immediately included in the public debt and in the internal stability pact (even if they have not yet been liquidated).
The risk is that the emergence of debts of the public administration towards companies could cause our debt to rise to such an extent as to make parts of the state apparatus insolvent. But Messori writes that, according to Astrid's analyses, "the connected increase in the Italian public debt/GDP ratio would not trigger negative market reactions". On the contrary, Italy would appear as a virtuous country that would set a good example.
The proposal to be associated with this initial idea is then, writes the economist, that of encouraging banks to purchase the certified credits of companies "by means of the unilateral faculty to transfer these credits to the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti". All this, if the state does not liquidate them within a reasonable period of time. The Cassa Depositi e Prestiti would thus have the right to collect the receivables (added to interest); and, in the event that the administration in difficulty requests it, the Cdp would proceed with the restructuring of these credits with the consequent extinction in a longer period of time. "The simple mechanisms described - Messori concludes - would ease the liquidity crisis of the our businesses and would stimulate short-term growth”.
