Italy approves new package to curb energy bills, help COVID-hit firms

Reuters
Updated ·2 min read
Milan's business district skyline is seen from Duomo's Cathedral downtown Milan

ROME (Reuters) -Italy approved a set of new measures on Friday designed to curb surging energy bills and help companies cope with the latest wave of coronavirus infections.

The scheme, funded by a series of compensatory measures, will not weigh on the public deficit which the Treasury is keen to reduce to 5.6% of growth this year from 9.4% in 2021.

The energy package, which is worth 1.7 billion euros ($1.93 billion), comes on top of more than 8 billion euros Rome has stumped up since last July to curb bills for households and business.

Soaring energy prices, triggered by heavy demand for gas as economies look to emerge from the health pandemic, have prompted governments across Europe to introduce measures to try to shield consumers.

The government said it plans to use around 1.2 billion euros of proceeds from carbon permit auctions to cut system-cost levies weighing on many firms. Such levies typically account for more than 20% of Italian retail energy bills.

Additional resources to mitigate bills will come from a clawback of profits from some operators benefiting from certain fixed-tariff solar power incentives that cost consumers some 6 billion euros per year.

But the government put on hold a securitisation scheme aimed at further cutting system-cost levies in energy bills due to its impact on state coffers, a minister told Reuters asking not to be named.

The energy transition ministry had estimated such a measure could generate at least 2.5 billion euros in savings.

The package approved on Friday also envisages grants and tax breaks to help hard-hit businessess such as discos, theme parks, wedding organisers and restaurants. The cabinet office did not detail the total amount of the subsidies.

According to a draft seen by Reuters, Rome also allocated 150 million euros to compensate those suffering side effects from COVID-19 vaccinations and 50 million to help pig farmers cope with a recent African swine fever outbreak.

($1 = 0.8818 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Gavin Jones, Jan Harvey and Angus MacSwan)

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Q1 2024 MSCI Inc Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 MSCI Inc Earnings Call

  • Prabowo vows to fight for all Indonesians, calls for unity among political elites

    Indonesia president-elect Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday vowed to fight for all Indonesians and called for unity among political elites to take the country forward, as he seeks to strengthen his parliamentary clout ahead of taking office in October. Speaking at a ceremony where he was being confirmed as the winner of the Feb. 14 election, Prabowo, who won by a huge margin, said he was talking to elites in the country and it was vital parties could get along together for the common good. Prabowo, who was tacitly backed by popular incumbent Joko Widodo, is seeking to broaden his coalition in the new parliament and is in talks with parties who backed his election rivals.

  • Sky Turns Orange as Dust Storm Hits Greece

    A dust storm filled Greek skies in an orange haze on Tuesday, April 23, as a dust storm moved through the region, the director of the country’s National Meteorological Center said.Footage filmed by Evgenia Linos shows reduced visibility in Athens.The director of the National Meteorological Center, Theodoros Kolydas, announced the concentrations of Saharan dust would significantly decrease in Greece on Wednesday. Credit: Evgenia Linos via Storyful

  • Spain sees US-style economic boost from immigrant workers

    Achieving her career ambitions in Spain has proved remarkably easy for Sara Hernandez, a systems architect from Venezuela who found her skills were in hot demand when she arrived in Madrid. Spain may have Europe's highest unemployment rate but moving to Madrid in 2021 after seven years in Chile, where she worked in less qualified positions in IT, she was surprised how seamless it was to find work. "This is where I've been able to fulfil my goal of becoming a systems architect," Hernandez, 36, told Reuters.

  • Allen and the Cavaliers visit Orlando with 2-0 series lead

    Cleveland Cavaliers (48-34, fourth in the Eastern Conference) vs. Orlando Magic (47-35, fifth in the Eastern Conference)Orlando, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Magic -1.5; over/under is 198.5EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Cavaliers lead series 2-0BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference first round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Cavaliers won the last matchup 96-86 on April 22 led by 23 points from Donovan Mitchell, while P

  • New York takes 2-0 lead into game 3 against Philadelphia

    New York Knicks (50-32, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Philadelphia 76ers (47-35, seventh in the Eastern Conference)Philadelphia; Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EDTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE 76ers -4.5; over/under is 204EASTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Knicks lead series 2-0BOTTOM LINE: The New York Knicks visit the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference first round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Knicks won the last meeting 104-101 on April 22 led by 24 points from Jalen Brunson, while Tyrese

  • Nuggets take 2-0 lead into game 3 against the Lakers

    Denver Nuggets (57-25, second in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (47-35, eighth in the Western Conference)Los Angeles; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDTBETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Nuggets -1.5; over/under is 216WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Nuggets lead series 2-0BOTTOM LINE: The Denver Nuggets visit the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference first round with a 2-0 lead in the series. The Nuggets won the last matchup 101-99 on April 23 led by 27 points from Nikola Jokic, while Anthony Dav

  • Dow Jones Futures Rise After Market Rallies Again; Tesla Soars As Elon Musk Touts 'Affordable' EV, Robotaxi

    The rally attempt is gaining steam. Tesla soared as Elon Musk said "affordable" EVs will come in 2025 and touted robotaxis.

  • Polestar may use US plant to sell cars to Europe as EU-China tension rises

    Chinese-backed Swedish electric vehicle (EV) maker Polestar Automotive is preparing to shift production of cars it plans to sell into Europe to its U.S. plant from China in view of rising geopolitical tension, its CEO said. Asked how Polestar is preparing for a European probe into Chinese-made EVs possibly leading to increased tariffs, Thomas Ingenlath said the automaker is exploring the idea of exporting the Polestar 3 made in South Carolina to the European Union. Polestar builds the majority of its cars in the Chinese cities of Chengdu and Taizhou.

  • Q1 2024 Cadence Bank Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 Cadence Bank Earnings Call

  • LSEG shareholders to vote on doubling CEO's potential pay

    London Stock Exchange Group shareholders will vote on Thursday on whether to potentially double the pay of CEO David Schwimmer, after the 300-year old bourse campaigned to raise executive rewards to strengthen UK capital markets. LSEG's annual general meeting will vote on proposals to allow Schwimmer's total yearly remuneration to rise to up to 13.063 million pounds ($16.14 million) from 6.25 million pounds. Executive compensation at Britain's top companies has drawn shareholder anger in recent years, with most critical of a widening gap between average worker earnings and CEO pay.

  • Consumer Reports Found 'Alarming' Levels of Pesticides in US Produce

    It offered a few solutions too.

  • Q1 2024 RLI Corp Earnings Call

    Q1 2024 RLI Corp Earnings Call

  • A moment that changed me: joyriders destroyed my van in New Zealand – which led to a lovely life in London

    Without the van, my husband and I had no urgent reason to live in Wellington. The short European adventure we had planned soon became much more

  • Elaha review – sex, patriarchy and second-generation identity

    A seriously intentioned drama about a young Kurdish woman who feels she has to surgically ‘restore’ her virginity before her wedding

  • Rail route of the month: vines on the line from Avignon to Lyon, France

    Our slow travel expert takes the train through the Rhône’s wine country, hoping for grand cru views and a glass of Condrieu

  • Matchesfashion strikes a sour note as my £902 goes missing

    I returned two coats and the parcel was lost and then it went into administration

  • Why isn't Manchester United vs Sheffield United live on TV in the UK today?

    Rearranged Premier League game not chosen for broadcast

  • Wednesday briefing: What a viral row tells us about protest politics in the digital age

    In today’s newsletter: Jewish campaigner Gideon Falter’s confrontation with a Met police officer, and what it says about modern media

  • Vladimir Jurowski: I can’t ever go back to terrorist-state Russia

    It was more than a decade ago that Vladimir Jurowski, one of Russia’s best-known musical sons, began to realise that things were taking a sinister turn in the country of his birth.