ITALY yesterday announced fresh support measures worth €9.1 billion (RM43.6 billion) to help households and businesses cope with soaring energy costs.

The move by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government adds to the €66 billion that the administration under former prime minister Mario Draghi had already spent this year on helping squeezed families and businesses with energy bills.

The latest sum is the result of “extraordinary tax receipts” during a third quarter where the Italian economy performed better than expected, the Economy Ministry said in a statement following a cabinet meeting.

A statutory order adopted by the government provides tax credits for businesses, bars, restaurants and shops to purchase gas and electricity and will maintain lower excise duties on fuel until the end of the year.

Meloni’s government has also decided to grant new concessions for offshore gas extraction and to increase the production of concessions that are already operational with the aim of increasing production, the statement said.

The 2023 budget will ring-fence €21 billion to finance measures guiding households and businesses through the storm of spiralling energy costs, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday.

The additional resources will be financed by borrowing, with the economy ministry raising Italy’s public debt forecast for next year to 4.5% of annual economic output from the 3.4% predicted by Draghi’s government in September.

Italian business leaders have demanded support measures of up to €50 billion to avoid widespread job losses and bankruptcies. – AFP, November 11, 2022.