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Italy unveils 17-bln-euro aid package to combat inflation, drought
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IANS | 05 Aug, 2022
Italian
Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced an aid package worth an estimated
17 billion euros to combat surging inflation and drought.
As
head of a caretaker government, Draghi announced that the Council of
Ministers had just approved the latest aid package at his first press
briefing on Thursday after his official resignation on July 21, reports
Xinhua news agency.
He agreed to stay on as head of government
in a caretaker role until a new government can be formed after a general
election scheduled for September 25.
Earlier this year, Italy
already approved the 35 billion euro economic assistance. Thus, together
the two measures total more than 2 percent of Italy's gross domestic
product, Draghi said.
He said the decree was of "extraordinary
proportions" and his goal was to "give the next government the
successful achievement of all the targets" related to the European
Union's more than 200 billion euros in coronavirus pandemic-related
loans and grants.
According to Draghi, among the measures
financed by the new package will be "the extension of billing and other
measures related to fuel costs, a re-evaluation of pensions, and tax
cuts" beyond those financed by the first round of aid this year.
The
Prime Minister also said there would be "measures in support of farmers
against drought" as well as funding for targeted local and regional
initiatives and a 200-euro bonus for self-employed workers.
Italy
has been bruised by surging prices stemming from the conflict between
Russia and Ukraine, which has pushed global fuel prices higher and has
caused food shortages and disrupted supply chains.
At the end of
July, prices were 7.9 per cent higher than a year earlier, and in June
the year-on-year price increase was 8 per cent, the highest in Italy
since the creation of the euro currency.
Italy has also suffered from unusually hot and dry conditions this summer.
The
farmers' association Coldiretti said the country's agricultural output
this year would be reduced by at least a third, with some sectors seeing
decreases of more than twice that amount.
On Friday, 19 cities including Rome, Milan, and Turin will be put on red alert due to high temperatures.
But
Draghi said those factors will be reduced by the government's steps,
and he predicted that despite the challenges, Italy's economy this year
will still grow faster than those of France and Germany, the two larger
economies in the euro area.
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Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
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84.35
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82.60 |
UK Pound
|
106.35
|
102.90 |
Euro
|
92.50
|
89.35 |
Japanese
Yen |
55.05 |
53.40 |
As on 12 Oct, 2024 |
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