No social investment, just an exercise in internal consensus: the 2019 Italian Draft Budget Law.

No social investment, just an exercise in internal consensus: the 2019 Italian Draft Budget Law.

Italy is due to start the parliamentary process for the approval of the draft budget law, drawn up by the new Italian government, in the coming days. The European Commission has written to the Italian government to ask for detailed clarifications, but there has been no constructive response from Italy. The unprecedented yellow-green government, expressly populist and anti-European, is using the budget law purely as an exercise in  internal consensus, without considering the serious damage it will cause the country. The forecast of a 2.4% deficit is absolutely incompatible with the growth forecasts and with a high volume of public debt. Moreover, the resources deriving from the extra deficit will be used not to stimulate economic growth, but for welfare purposes. The income of citizenship and the counter-reform of pensions (about 32 billion) risk pushing the economy of the already stagnant country into recession. The additional cost of interest payable on the public debt will reduce the room for manoeuver even more. The citizenship income was initially conceived as a redistributive instrument, conceived therefore on the assumption of growth, but if is financed by debt it is the worst possible policy.

Specifically, this budget law, instead of helping lift families out of poverty, investing in social development (education, training, social work), restarting social growth, risks relegating social investment to a subsistence fence that is going to heighten social differences.

SOLIDAR and its members always promote social investment, through fair inclusion in the labour market and stronger active employment policies. This is exactly the opposite of sustainable development, this law is a step backwards with any progressive vision for Italian social development.