By Giuseppe Fonte
ROME, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Italy plans to raise an additional €10.7 billion ($12.00 billion) from the financial sector to help fund its budget over the 2027-2029 period, a government document showed on Thursday.
The contribution will be recurring rather than a one-off measure, amounting to 0.21% of GDP in 2027, 0.13% in 2028 and 0.1% in 2029, the Draft Budgetary Plan (DPB) sent to European Union authorities said.
No details were given about how the money would be raised.
Next year’s contribution is worth just over €5 billion, according to the document.
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has justified higher taxation by saying the financial sector enjoyed limited competition and also benefited from European Central Bank interest rate hikes and state guarantees on loans issued by previous governments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new cash comes on top of an extra €12 billion the government has already said it will garner from banks and insurers through 2028, thanks to a package of measures contained in this year’s budget, including a higher band for the IRAP corporate tax.
The DPB showed that Italy also planned to cover part of its funding needs by collecting 0.08% of GDP or roughly €2 billion through 2029 from the gaming sector.
In addition, government ministries are being asked to tighten their belts, with spending cuts amounting to around €5 billion over the period.
DEFENDING PURCHASING POWER
The document makes no reference to possible levies on energy firms, which the government had mentioned in previous weeks.
However, the DPB mentioned unspecified tax hikes amounting to 0.44% of GDP in the next three years.
Leading energy groups, including state-controlled Eni, announced price caps last month to help Meloni curb fuel prices, a move widely seen as an attempt to deter the government from imposing some form of windfall tax.
Italy said in the document it was focusing its fiscal policy on “protecting households’ purchasing power as well as on supporting businesses and investments”.
The document showed the government was planning tax cuts and spending hikes worth 0.98% of GDP or €23.5 billion in next year’s budget, the last under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before national elections due by the autumn of 2027.
Italy has estimated its budget deficit will rise to 3.4% of GDP next year from 2.9% expected in 2026, before marginally declining to 3.2% in 2028.
($1 = 0.8920 euros)
(Editing by Crispian Balmer)
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