Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – MEP Gaetano Pdullà criticized Italy’s economic stagnation, attributing it to Meloni’s policies and warning of potential funding losses if deadlines aren’t met.
Gaetano Pdullà, deputy head of delegation of the 5 Star Movement in the European Parliament, commented in a note that the GDP data revised downwards by Istat reflects an Italian economy at a standstill. According to him, the Italian economy was entangled in a crisis with no clear resolution, which he attributed to the restrictive policies of the Meloni-Giorgetti duo. He criticized the austerity measures, stating that they are only harming businesses and families.
Is Meloni’s austerity policy worsening Italy’s economic crisis?
Istat stated that Italy’s GDP extended by 0.7% in 2023 in volume terms, 0.2 of a percentage point lower than the stats it gave in its preliminary assessment in March. The National Statistics Agency also modified the figures for 2022 and 2021 to 4.7% and 8.9%, up by 0.7 and 0.6 of a percentage point respectively.
Istat expressed the deficit-to-GDP ratio for 2023 was 7.2% compared to its April estimation of 7.4%. The debt-to-GDP ratio was shown as 134.6%, down significantly from the figure of 137.3% Istat gave in April, which also featured in the government’s DEF economic blueprint.
“The revisions … are minor, and don’t change the principles or the framework of the structural budget plan,”
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti expressed in a statement. The revisions were part of an annual assessment of Italy’s GDP statistics that Istat carries out every September. This year the exercise also entailed a shift in the base year for GDP growth data to 2021 from 2015.
Will Italy miss out on EU funds due to delays?
MEP Gaetano Pdullà expressed concern that the worst is yet to come for Italy. He noted that the future Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, has warned countries lagging in implementing the PNRR, including Italy, about the risk of losing funds if they fail to meet the 2026 deadline.
Pdullà emphasized that not extending this deadline would negatively impact the economy, which he believes is currently only stable due to investments secured by Conte in Europe. He criticized Meloni for focusing on public appearances while Italy faced significant challenges.
