Pensions, government reassess social security checks

The first measure to combat inflation arrives and concerns retirees: the Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti signed the decree that, from January 1, 2023, provides for a readjustment equal to + 7.3% of citizens’ pensions . The increase was calculated based on the percentage change in consumer price indices provided by Istat. But the government accelerates in measures to combat expensive energy: today, in fact, the council of ministers will give the green light to the decreed quarter of aid with which 9.1 billion is allocated to families and companies. Among the measures, the tax credit for companies and the reduction of excise taxes on fuel. “The Government is verifying the possibility of using the available resources from the 2014-2020 programming of the European Structural and Investment Funds for measures to reduce the energy costs of companies and families”, announced yesterday the Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, in hearing on Nadef, explaining that work is also being done on the possibility of paying in installments for the electricity bill.

The real challenge, however, lies in the 2023 maneuver: the approximately 21 billion available will be used to face the energy emergency, renewing current measures also in the first months of next year. On the other hand, there is very little left. The picture is clear: “Estimates predict a negative change in GDP for the last part of the year” and for 2023 “a change of 0.3% is expected, more contained than was assumed at the end of September”, says Giorgetti . To the uncertainty of the economic outlook – with clear downside risks, as confirmed by the UPB – two other expenditure items are added: that of pensions, which by 2025 will weigh more than 50 billion also due to the inflation indexation mechanism, and the Superbonus , which by 2026 will cost 37.8 billion euros more than expected, a value that could increase even more at the end of the year. Certainly, anticipates the minister, “the mechanism will be reviewed selectively because this government does not consider it fair to allocate such a large mass of resources to a very limited slice of Italian citizens without distinction”. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini confirms shortly: a review is “absolutely necessary” also to “put prices back under control, because there has been a speculative run that has led to an excess of what is normal”. Basically, for “interventions that show the first signs with regard to the commitments formulated in the Government’s program”, such as fiscal or social security measures, “it will be necessary to find forms of compensation in the same sector, some forms of aid have to be reduced to increase others in the fiscal sphere and the same applies to social security measures.” Rationalize, therefore, in a “selective fiscal policy orientation, with well-defined priorities within a framework of prudence aimed at favoring debt reduction.” The budget document will be ready as soon as possible. within three weeks, the minister assures, and will contain “measures of” fiscal truce “that will be a useful support for liquidity”, while the feasibility of a fixed incremental extra fixed tax is under study, with a 15% participation in the increase in income in 2022 in relation to the 20 greater than declared in the previous three years. Cutting the tax burden, also the theme of the meeting with the unions, will be “from al Somehow” re-proposed, while the retirement option with 41 years of contributions “is not excluded, but there will have to be some compensation, maybe some savings come from the citizenship income”.