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The government last week revisited a 40% tax on banks' net interest margin (NIM) that it had introduced in a shock move in August. Lenders now have the option to boost reserves by an amount equivalent to 2.5 times the tax. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Sept. 27 the final outcome of the process would be "a great bank policy measure" that makes Italy's banks the strongest in Europe. The law requires banks that forego the tax to set aside money under ad hoc reserves in their accounts. If forced to boost capital through the ad hoc reserves, banks can use larger buybacks over time to compensate shareholders, one of the sources said.

Persons: Giancarlo Giorgetti, Remo Casilli, Banks, Luigi Lovaglio, Andrea Orcel, Giorgia Meloni, Giorgetti, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Treasury, Economy, European Central Bank, Monte, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, ROME, Europe, Monte dei, Siena

Security guards stand at the BYD booth at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China April 19, 2023. Rome sees the French incentive framework as "reasonable", one of the sources said, adding the government was studying such an option. European Union competition rules do not allow countries to favour local producers. Paris has said criteria it adopted are compliant with WTO rules because exemptions are allowed for health and environmental reasons. Talks, which are expected to go on until the end of this year, include new incentive schemes in Italy.

Persons: Aly, Adolfo Urso, Giuseppe Fonte, Gilles Guillaume, Parisand Giulio Piovaccari, Giulio Piovaccari, Keith Weir Organizations: Auto, REUTERS, Reuters, European Union, Fiat, Industry, Thomson Locations: Auto Shanghai, Shanghai, China, Italy, France, Europe, Rome, Paris, Milan

In its issuance programme for the fourth quarter released late on Friday the Treasury raised its estimate for gross debt issuance this year to 333 billion euros ($351.95 billion). That compared with its forecast of 310-320 billion euros made at the start of the year. Germany reduced its needs in the fourth quarter by 31 billion euros ($32.59 billion). The Treasury has so far covered around 80% of its 2023 gross funding needs, it estimated on Friday. For the fourth quarter, the Treasury estimated gross issuance of medium and long-term bonds at around 60 billion euros, with issuance net of redemptions seen at a negative 12 billion euros over the same period.

Persons: JP Morgan, Analysts, Italy –, Giorgia Meloni, Giuseppe Fonte, Gavin Jones Organizations: European Union, Treasury, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, MILAN, ROME, Germany, Portugal, France, London

☆ Italy plans 21-billion euro asset sell-off to keep debt in check
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Italy aims to raise at least 1% of gross domestic product (GDP), or roughly 21 billion euros ($22.2 billion), through asset sales between 2024 and 2026, the Treasury said in its Economic and Financial Document (DEF) published on Saturday. The plan is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's efforts to keep in check the euro zone's second-largest debt pile as a proportion of GDP, while investors keep a close eye on Rome's creaking public finances. The new targets factor in the proceeds of asset disposals expected in the next three years, the DEF said, showing that without the sell-off plans the debt burden would probably rise. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said in the document that the stake sales would involve companies that are subject to privatisation commitments already agreed with the European Commission. This is a reference to bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI), which was bailed-out in 2017 at a cost of 5.4 billion euros for taxpayers.

Persons: Giorgia, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Giorgetti, Giuseppe Conte, Giuseppe Fonte, Helen Popper Our Organizations: Treasury, Economy, European Commission, Monte, Thomson Locations: Italy, Siena

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. Meloni has much less room for manoeuvre than when she hiked deficit targets in her first budget a year ago. Episodes targeting airlines and investors in Italy's 307- billion-euro ($326.74 billion) bad loan market have followed a similar pattern. Meloni subsequently said no measures were planned regarding non-performing loans, but her party's proposal is still before parliament and uncertainty persists.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, Tim Jones, she's, Morgan Stanley, Reuters.G Rome, Roberto Perotti, Meloni's, Valentina Za, Francesco Canepa, Giuseppe Fonte, Sara Rossi, Gianluca Semeraro, Ed Osmond, Giselda Organizations: Treasury, Advisors, European Central Bank, Reuters, Ryanair, Milan's, Bank of, ECB, Thomson Locations: ROME, Italy, Greece, Rome, Italian, Italy's, Brussels, EU, Milan

☆ Italy to raise 2024 deficit goal to 4.1%-4.3% of GDP, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Italy's government plans to raise its 2024 budget deficit target to between 4.1% and 4.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), up from the 3.7% goal set in April, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. The fiscal gap next year is, however, seen below 4% of GDP under current trends. That allows leeway worth several billion euros which will help Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to fund measures in the upcoming 2024 budget. Italy is also preparing to raise this year's budget deficit above the current target of 4.5% of GDP due to the growing impact of costly fiscal incentives for home improvements. Separate sources last week said the updated 2023 goal would be in the region of 5.5% as a proportion of GDP.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, Chris Reese, Mark Potter Organizations: Reuters, European Central Bank, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Italy

ROME, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Italy plans to revisit its contested windfall tax on banks by giving lenders the option to boost their reserve buffers instead of paying the levy, a draft amendment seen by Reuters showed on Saturday. Bank shares tumbled before the economy ministry clarified that it would not collect more than 0.1% of lenders' total assets. More importantly, instead of paying the tax, banks can boost their non-distributable reserves by earmarking an amount equivalent to two and a half times the levy. Such an option is expected to exempt cooperative banks from the tax, as they usually put aside a large part of their profits as reserves. In the current version, the tax would apply if NIM grows by 5% in 2022 and 10% in 2023 from 2021 levels.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, NIM, Jan Harvey Organizations: Reuters, European Central Bank, Bank, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, Frankfurt

☆ Italy has no buyers for Monte dei Paschi, eyes small share sales instead of exit, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

General view of a branch of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, which is facing massive layoffs as part of a planned business merger, in Siena, Italy, August 11 2021. Reuters was first in May to report the Treasury was open to selling down its Monte dei Paschi (MPS) stake on the market if conditions were right. Though the Treasury is considering cutting its stake with share placements, it would retain majority ownership, one of the sources said. Bankers said the capital raise has made any deal more expensive for any buyer, complicating the prospect for a merger. Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Roma and Valentina Za in Milan; editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jennifer Lorenzini, Rome, Luigi Lovaglio, Lovaglio, Giuseppe Fonte, Valentina Za, Alvise Organizations: REUTERS, European, Reuters, Treasury, EU, MPS, Banco, Bankers, Thomson Locations: Monte dei, Siena, Italy, Roma, Milan

☆ Italy sees 2023 budget deficit overshoot at around 5.5% of GDP, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacts at a news conference for her government's first budget in Rome, Italy November 22, 2022. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Italy sees its 2023 budget deficit overshooting at around 5.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 4.5% target, sources told Reuters, pushed up by high interest rates and accounting adjustments regarding costly tax credits. The 3.7% target currently established for next year's fiscal gap is also set to be revised upwards, two sources close to the matter said. However, national statistics bureau ISTAT said any revisions to GDP data for the first and second quarter of this year are likely to be no more than marginal. Italy will unveil its new economic projections next week in the Treasury's annual Economic and Financial Document (DEF).

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Remo Casilli, Giorgia, Gavin Jones, Toby Chopra Organizations: Italian, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Eurostat, Treasury, ISTAT, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy

REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. fund KKR and Italy's Treasury are set to ask Telecom Italia (TIM) for more time to arrange a joint bid for its landline grid, three sources close to the matter said. KKR (KKR.N) last month won the backing of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government, which authorised the Treasury to join its bid for an asset deemed of strategic national interest. The U.S. fund's preliminary bid valued the business -- dubbed NetCo -- at around 23 billion euros ($25 billion) including debt and taking into account a number of variables. The French group, which owns 24% of TIM, has so far shown little appetite for a deal under KKR's terms. The Treasury is evaluating the request, one of these people said, without adding further details.

Persons: Yara, Giorgia, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Alvise Armellini, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, KKR, Italy's Treasury, Telecom Italia, Treasury, TIM, NetCo, Reuters, Vivendi, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, U.S

☆ Berlusconi's daughter criticises Meloni over bank windfall tax
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Angelo Amante | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Marina Berlusconi and Luigi Berlusconi attend the funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi at the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Marina Berlusconi, the daughter of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on Friday criticised Italy's windfall tax on banks, underlining divisions over the issue in the coalition government that includes her late father's party. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has taken personal responsibility for the measure, which targets extra profits made by banks from higher interest rates. "Who determines when a profit is extra and when it is normal?," Marina Berlusconi said to reporters after the assembly of influential Italian business lobby Confindustria. Meloni has said she was open to some modifications, provided the targeted tax take remained unchanged at "just under" 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion).

Persons: Marina Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi, Yara, Giorgia Meloni, Pier Silvio, Meloni, Berlusconi, Fininvest, Mediolanum, Antonio Tajani, Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Keith Weir Organizations: Italian, Cathedral, REUTERS, Rights, Forza Italia, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy

PARIS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Belgium said on Thursday it would review the potential health risks linked to Apple's iPhone 12, becoming the latest European country to react after France ordered a halt to sales citing breaches of radiation exposure limits. Apple on Wednesday said the iPhone 12, launched in 2020, was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with radiation standards and that it was contesting France's findings. But Paris' move to halt iPhone 12 sales until Apple fixes the radiation issues detected in two tests raised the prospect of further bans in Europe. Researchers have conducted a vast number of studies over the last two decades to assess health risks resulting from mobile phones. According to the World Health Organisation, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.

Persons: Mathieu Michel, digitalisation, Michel, Marine Strauss, Tassilo Hummel, Giuseppe Fonte, Ingrid Melander, Mark Potter Organizations: Apple, World Health, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Belgium, France, Paris, Europe, Belgium's, U.S, Brussels, Rome

☆ Italy poised to shake up Treasury with new unit for state-run firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The audit court on Thursday approved the decree needed to set up the unit, the sources said, despite making critical observations about some aspects of it. Giorgetti has approached former banker Marcello Sala, currently director for investor relations at the Treasury, to lead the department, they added. Under the reorganisation plan, the influential Treasury department within the ministry led by veteran economist Riccardo Barbieri would be split into two units. The Treasury will continue to supervise public debt management, macroeconomic policies, European and international relations as well as financial regulation. ($1 = 0.9323 euros)Additional reporting by Valentina Za in Milan Editing by Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sala, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Giorgetti, Marcello Sala, Antonino Turicchi, Dario Scannapieco, Riccardo Barbieri, Valentina Za, Christina Fincher Organizations: Treasury, Economy, ITA Airways, Department, Thomson Locations: ROME, Italy, Siena, Milan

☆ Italy's new bank tax should count as cost, ABI banking lobby
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Italian banks should be able to deduct from their overall tax bill the one-off tax on income deriving from higher interest rates which the government plans to introduce, industry lobby ABI said on Tuesday. In comments prepared for a parliamentary hearing, ABI also said that the impact of lenders' government bond holdings on their income and capital should also be excluded from the tax. ABI warned the tax risked violating principles set by Italy's constitutional law. It added the sector faced challenges such as a rising cost of funding and a possible increase in unpaid loans driven by the higher rates. Reporting by Valentina Za and Giuseppe Fonte; editign Federico MaccioniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Valentina Za, Giuseppe Fonte, editign Federico Maccioni Organizations: ABI, Thomson

☆ Italian PM: Strong Partnership With China More Important Than BRI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Sept. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

Italian media reported earlier in the day that Italy would quit the BRI and instead seek to revitalise a strategic partnership agreement with China, aimed at fostering economic cooperation, that it first signed in 2004. Meloni met Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday on the G20 sidelines and described the talks as polite and constructive. The Italian government has also been invited to a BRI Forum that China will host in October, she added. Italian politicians have questioned the value of the BRI agreement signed by a previous administration in 2019. In its statement on Saturday, Meloni's office mentioned the 20th anniversary next year of a separate Global Strategic Partnership signed by China and a government led by Silvio Berlusconi in 2004.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, haven't, Meloni, Li Qiang, Silvio Berlusconi, Keith Weir, Giuseppe Fonte, Mark Heinrich Organizations: Initiative, Strategic Partnership Locations: ROME, China, Italy, West, Beijing, New Delhi

☆ Italian PM: Strong partnership with China more important than BRI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, haven't, Meloni, Li Qiang, Silvio Berlusconi, Keith Weir, Giuseppe Fonte, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Initiative, Strategic Partnership, Thomson Locations: China, Italy, West, Beijing, New Delhi

☆ Italy sees 2023 deficit above target due to home incentives, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Italy is preparing to raise its 2023 budget deficit above the target of 4.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) set in April due to the impact of costly fiscal incentives for home improvements, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Monday. The impact on 2024 budget is still to be assessed and the government could take action again to prevent further deviations from targets, the sources added. He described the Superbonus as a banquet where everyone had a meal and the state was left with the bill. Italy had already hinted in July that it was studying changes to these tax incentives as part of talks with European Union authorities to revamp the country's post-COVID national recovery Plan. The government will update a raft of economic projections by Sept. 27 through the Treasury's Document of economy and finance (DEF).

Persons: Giancarlo Giorgetti, Giorgetti, Lincoln Organizations: Reuters, European Union, Thomson Locations: Italy

The "Made in Italy" fund, which was approved in May, will have an initial endowment of 700 million euros ($756 million) in 2023 and an additional 300 million next year in state cash. Saudi Arabia will focus on energy, sustainability, supply chains and sport to expand its presence in Italy, Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said at the same event. Italian exports to Saudi Arabia totalled just over 4 billion euros in 2022, much from manufacturing, while imports totalled more than 7.4 billion euros, the bulk from oil products. Also at the Milan event, leading Italian energy company Eni (ENI.MI) and Saudi Acwa Power (2082.SE) agreed to jointly develop a green hydrogen project in the Middle East and Africa. Saudi Arabia has a well advanced project dubbed NEOM to produce green hydrogen at home while Italy so far has not developed yet any plan to produce it in significant quantity.

Persons: Adolfo Urso, Giorgia Meloni, Meloni, shrugging, Urso, Khalid al, Falih, Power, De Nora, Giuseppe Fonte, Keith Weir, Angus MacSwan, Alexander Smith Organizations: Energy, Italy's Industry, Reuters, Italy's, Investment, European Union, EU, Saudi, Eni, Saudi Acwa, Thomson Locations: Italy, MILAN, Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Rome, Riyadh, Milan, Kingdom, Meloni, East, North Africa, Russia, Africa

Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti gestures during a confidence vote over the 2023 budget at the lower house of the parliament, in Rome, Italy December 23, 2022. "The government plans to maintain the forecasts of 1% in 2023, but inevitable external variables are radically changing the picture," Giorgetti said, speaking at The European House-Ambrosetti economic forum. The total cost of the so-called Superbonus originally introduced in 2020 is approaching 100 billion euros ($107.73 billion), the source added. With interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank to curb inflation dampening economic activity, Rome's growth target of 1.5% next year is increasingly at risk, economists say. As Italy is preparing a difficult 2024 budget, Giorgetti reiterated the commitment to keeping the deficit on a downward trend, leaving little leeway for stimulus.

Persons: Giancarlo Giorgetti, Remo Casilli, Giorgetti, Giuseppe Fonte, Giancarlo Navach, Giselda Vagnoni, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, European Central Bank, European Union, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, CERNOBBIO, Cernobbio, Ukraine

☆ Italy set to take over Telecom Italia's submarine cable unit -draft
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury can take full ownership of Telecom Italia's (TIM) (TLIT.MI) submarine cable unit Sparkle as part of an agreement with U.S. fund KKR (KKR.N) to jointly bid for the group's landline grid, a draft government decree showed on Tuesday. The cabinet on Monday approved two decrees providing for the Treasury to take a 15-20% stake in NetCo, a venture comprising both TIM's domestic fixed-access network and submarine cable unit Sparkle. It was valued at up to 1.2 billion euros in KKR's preliminary bid for NetCo, sources have said. The Treasury stake in Telecom Italia's grid would have the same property rights assigned to other shares, one of the decrees indicated.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, TIM's, Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Alvise Armellini, Jason Neely Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, Treasury, Telecom Italia's, U.S, KKR, Reuters, Telecom, Thomson Locations: NetCo, TIM's Milan

☆ Italy to propose ex-minister Franco for ECB board, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Italy's Economy Minister Daniele Franco addresses a news conference after the G7 Summit in Koenigswinter, near Bonn, Germany May 20, 2022. REUTERS/Benjamin Westhoff/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Italy will put forward former economy minister Daniele Franco as its candidate for the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), a source close to the matter said on Sunday. He was appointed economy minister in 2021 in Mario Draghi's unity government, helping Italy navigate the COVID-19 crisis and the turbulence caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, in a surprise move, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti decided instead to propose his predecessor, a source close to the matter told Reuters, confirming a report in Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper. The government had initially put Franco forward as the Italian candidate to lead the European Union's lending arm, the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Persons: Daniele Franco, Benjamin Westhoff, Fabio Panetta, Franco, Mario Draghi's, Piero Cipollone, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Giorgia Meloni, Crispian Balmer, Giuseppe Fonte, Christina Fincher, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Central Bank, ECB, Bank of Italy, European Investment Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Koenigswinter, Bonn, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, France, Rome, Italian, Franco

☆ Italy, KKR discussing terms of state investment into fixed line grid - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. The preliminary agreement could be signed as early as this week, one of the sources said, adding that discussions were still ongoing. The Treasury could join KKR in its preliminary 23 billion euro ($25 billion) bid for TIM's grid and secure a government stake in the venture that will own the network, alongside other potential state-backed investors, the sources said. Debt-laden TIM has granted KKR an exclusivity period until the end of September to negotiate a binding bid for Netco, a venture comprising both TIM's fixed domestic access grid and submarine cable unit Sparkle. ($1 = 0.9127 euros)Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Giuseppe Fonte; writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Elvira Pollina, Giuseppe Fonte, Valentina Za, Alvise Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, Treasury, KKR, Telecom Italia's, TIM, Netco, Thomson Locations: MILAN

☆ Italy scales back plans to control prices of essential goods
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Italy has scaled back its anti-inflation plans after producers refused to submit to a deal with supermarket chains to control prices of consumer staples, three people familiar with the talks said on Thursday. The accord was supposed to deliver a "decisive blow" to inflation, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Monday. But the people said on Thursday the government had not managed to get support from industry associations and so the supermarkets did not intend to endorse the plan. Seen by Reuters, the statement acknowledges that the industry associations have so far not been willing to sign off on any deal. Urso will chair a video call on Friday at 0730 GMT to ratify the joint declaration, one of the sources said.

Persons: Adolfo Urso, Urso, Giorgia Meloni, Giuseppe Fonte, Tomasz Janowski, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Industry, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Italy

Gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.3% on a quarterly basis between April and June and was up 0.6% year-on-year, national statistics bureau ISTAT said. ISTAT gave no numerical sector breakdown of its preliminary second-quarter GDP estimate, but said industry and agriculture output decreased whereas services grew marginally. The 0.3% contraction left Italy with so-called "carryover" growth of 0.8% this year, assuming GDP would be flat in the remaining two quarters. "Italy is an advanced industrial country and the weakness in industry is much more important than the tourism sector for the economy's health," said Lorenzo Codogno, head of LC Macro Advisors and former chief economist at Italy's Treasury. ISTAT also said annual inflation slowed to 6.4% in July from 6.7% in June, on a EU-harmonised consumer prices.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Franziska Palmas, Intesa, Lorenzo Codogno, Alvise Armellini, Elvira Pollina, Sharon Singleton, Alistair Bell Organizations: Gross, Reuters, Capital Economics, ISTAT, LC Macro Advisors, Italy's Treasury, Thomson Locations: ROME, Italy, Rome, Milan

☆ Italy wins EU nod to clinch 18.5 bln euros in post-COVID funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, July 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Friday it had provisionally approved the payment to Italy of a third tranche of 18.5 billion euros ($20.43 billion) in post-COVID recovery funds. The approval of the money had been blocked in March due to Rome's failure to meet previously agreed policy conditions. "The European Commission strongly encourages all member states, including Italy, to proceed with the timely implementation of their respective recovery and resilience plans," it added. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the announcement and reiterated Rome's commitment to securing all 35 billion euros in post-COVID funds scheduled for this year. Italy is due to receive some 191.5 billion euros in EU cheap loans and grants through 2026.

Persons: Giorgia Meloni, Giuseppe Fonte, Gavin Jones Organizations: European, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Italy, Brussels

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