Italy is under growing market scrutiny as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni prepares a difficult 2024 budget, with investors dismayed by government moves affecting sectors from banks to airlines. The Treasury will issue new economic targets on Wednesday providing the framework for a budget in which Meloni will attempt to keep her tax-cutting promises while also lowering the fiscal deficit. 'This budget is Meloni's first real economic test since she came to power last October,' said Tim Jones, euro zone analyst for market consultancy firm Medley Advisors.
FILE PHOTO: Italian PM Meloni holds her end-of-year news conference in RomeROME - Italy is under growing market scrutiny as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni prepares a difficult 2024 budget, with investors dismayed by government moves affecting sectors from banks to airlines.
"This budget is Meloni's first real economic test since she came to power last October," said Tim Jones, euro zone analyst for market consultancy firm Medley Advisors. Now there is a growing emphasis on fiscal consolidation at the European level, with governments negotiating over new fiscal rules to be introduced next year after they were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a cautious start, Meloni's rightist government began raising investors' eyebrows when it repeatedly attacked the European Central Bank over its interest rate hikes, and then refused to sign off on an EU reform of its bailout fund. The move prompted a flurry of calls from worried international investors, a top Italian banker told Reuters on condition of anonymity, and forced asset managers back from their holidays to deal with the market rout.
Days after the bank tax, Brothers of Italy tabled a plan to allow debtors to pay off their arrears at a discount, effectively setting a profit cap for firms that buy the bad debt from banks to then make money from enforcing its repayment.
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