Contingency cash set aside in the budget
The budget the government is submitting to Parliament on Monday will be harmonized with the fall forecasts of the European Commission, which bring down growth and raise inflation estimates for 2023.
It will be a budget returning to primary surpluses, but at the same time it will not lack tools to finance new interventions, which will perhaps be demanded by economic difficulties, but also by pre-election needs.
The budget will not provide for new measures, beyond what has already been announced (abolition of the solidarity contribution to civil servants and pensioners, permanent reduction of social security contributions, but also an increase in pensions by about 7.5%). However, it will include a reserve of 1 billion euros intended primarily to support electricity bills, but may also go to different uses if the price of electricity is contained, as it has been so far.
The Finance Ministry is also pinning its hopes for additional revenue on the taxation of refineries, which will be implemented once a relevant European Union regulation is approved later this year. It is noted that the taxation of producers’ surpluses has already brought in €2.4 billion this year.
