“Italy has launched a very ambitious but essential reform program to strengthen public finances, revive growth and improve the competitiveness of its economy. The package is very articulated and well thought out”. With these words the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, received this morning by Prime Minister Mario Monti at Palazzo Chigi, promoted the action carried out so far by the new Italian government.
Gurria then added that, according to the analyzes of the organization for economic cooperation and development, the "package of reforms" drawn up by the Executive in Rome has "enormous potential to re-launch growth and competitiveness". In particular, the liberalization decree “could increase the productivity of the Italian economy by about 8% over the next ten years the introduction of the measures” and “nearly half of this productivity gain could come from the liberalization of professional services alone”.
Now, this prediction resize the data provided by Monti himself. After the go-ahead for the "Crescitalia" decree, the Professor had quoted the estimates of the OECD - as well as Bank of Italy - to argue that "if our country in the field of services will reach a degree of flexibility and openness like the other main countries, productivity will be able to increase by 10%”.
But today's meeting served above all to relaunch the collaboration between the International Organization and Rome. Gurria proposed to “discuss together the order in which to tackle the reforms and their implementation. We are here to share with you the experience and expertise that OECD countries have acquired in addressing these challenges and in identifying which practices can work and which cannot”.
In short, a helping hand from Paris. “You can imagine how the Italian government is eager to collaborate with the OECD and get its impulse – replied Monti -, precisely because it deals with those things that we intend to achieve in Italy with accelerated impulse, starting with structural reforms”.
