The promises of Salvini and Di Maio will not send the public finances into a tailspin. This is the message launched from Buenos Aires by the Minister of Economy, Giovanni Tria, to the leaders of the major world powers involved in the G20.
Our country will not implement the 5 billion corrective maneuver requested by Brussels, but will keep the budget at bay. The MEF number one repeats that growth is slowing down, but reassures his listeners: The "government program" will be applied "within the limits of budget compatibility".
“If growth slows down, it is obvious that economic maneuvers are more complicated to carry out, in the face of a slowdown there will be no pro-cyclical maneuvers”. Words that seem to sound like a de profundis against the Flat Tax and basic income: two very expensive measures – the first 50 billion euros, the second at least 17 – which Italy probably cannot afford for the moment.
"It was an opportunity - Tria said speaking to journalists - to explain the intentions of the Italian government, and the reception was "very positive". “It is our will, he continued,“ to apply the government program while maintaining course within the necessary budget limits to maintain market confidence and avoid instability”.
The governor of Bank of Italy also spoke to confirm Tria's words on growth, Ignazio Visco who, speaking at the international summit held in Argentina, reiterated: "The downside risks on growth have increased".
The Minister of the Interior answers remotely to the Minister of Finance, Matteo Salvini who, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, does not seem willing to go back on his electoral promises: "They elected us to change, if the Italians had wanted to continue along the lines of Monti, Letta, Padoan, Renzi and Gentiloni would have voted in a different way. We will also try to change some numbers chosen at the table by Brussels, which many EU countries flatly ignore".
On the budget maneuver that the Government will have to prepare by the autumn, Salvini reiterated that "it will be different from that of recent years, and we will give the first significant answers on the reduction of taxes".
