Italian government plans 3.6 billion euro aid package for economy hit by coronavirus outbreak. This is the amount that the minister of economy, roberto gualtieri, mentioned in an interview with "la repubblica" on sunday.
Prime minister giuseppe conte addressed in the newspaper "il fatto quotidiano" the desire of rome that the highly indebted country wants to increase the deficit ratio for the state budget. This will be coordinated with the european union, he was quoted in agencies.
Economy minister gualtieri said that by the end of the week the cabinet will approve the measures: "it will be a package of additional and extraordinary funds amounting to 3.6 billion euros, which corresponds to 0.2 percent of the gross domestic product"."For this the agreement of the parliament will be obtained. He was optimistic that rome could also convince the eu: "i have no reason to fear that brussel will challenge our request."
On friday evening, rome had decided in a first step on aid for about 900 million euros. They are mainly intended for the eleven restricted areas in lombardy and veneto. In italy, the sars cov 2 wave has infected more than 1100 people and killed 29.
Gualtieri said he was in contact with the EU and colleagues from germany and france, finance minister olaf scholz and bruno le maire. For the middle of the week a telephone conference is planned, at which the next meeting of the euro-finance ministers on the 16. March in brussel is being prepared.
The current crisis surrounding the outbreak of the corona virus is slowing down large parts of the italian economy, such as tourism and the automotive industry. However, economic worries were already high beforehand. In the last quarter of 2019, gross domestic product was down 0.3 percent – the biggest quarter-on-quarter decline in years.