The Italian government has approved a proposal for 25 billion euros ($29 billion) in extra spending to continue to fund the country's economic recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic, according to domestic media reports on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2020) The Italian government has approved a proposal for 25 billion Euros ($29 billion) in extra spending to continue to fund the country's economic recovery from the coronavirus disease pandemic, according to domestic media reports on Thursday.
The stimulus package will help fund the government's furlough program, help local-level institutions, enable tax deadlines to be rescheduled, and assist schools in their aim to reopen in September, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.
Despite the fresh spending, the government gave its reassurances that it will try to cut the country's deficit in relation to GDP, which stood at 10.8 percent in the first quarter of this year and is expected to rise further following the latest measure.
The Italian cabinet has yet to formalize an extension of the country's coronavirus-related state of emergency, although the agency cited sources who said that ministers have agreed in principle on prolonging the emergency measures to October 31.
Italy is set to receive 28 percent, or 209 billion euros, of the European Union's COVID-19 recovery fund, which was agreed on by EU leaders in Brussels on Tuesday.
The southern European country has the highest COVID-19 death toll in the EU, as more than 35,000 people who tested positive for the disease have lost their lives since the start of the outbreak.
