Economics
Italy Announces $28 Billion Plan to Cushion Virus-Hit Economy
- First raft of measures to total about 10 billion euros
- Additional steps may increase cost to 16 billion euros
Giuseppe Conte
Photographer: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is ready to spend as much as 25 billion euros ($28.3 billion) on stimulus measures to shield the economy from Europe’s worst outbreak of the coronavirus.
Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri said the cabinet is likely to approve a first package worth about about 12 billion euros by Friday. The rest will be a reserve to pay for any further measures, he said in a joint press conference with Conte on Wednesday. The government will ask parliament to increase the country’s deficit targets by 20 billion euros, he said.