(Bloomberg) -- Lawmakers from Italy’s Five Star Movement are ratcheting up the pressure on Finance Minister Giovanni Tria as the populist party, one of two members of the ruling coalition, seeks more funding for its programs in the coming budget and signals its willingness to raise deficits.
Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio is seeking a 28 billion-euro ($33 billion) budget adjustment including 10 billion euros for a so-called "basic income," one of the key campaign promises his party made during national elections in March, Corriere della Sera reported. His plan calls for an increase in the deficit-to-GDP ratio to 2.5 percent, the newspaper said.
Tria is continuing to hold the line at a 1.6 percent deficit for 2019, La Stampa reported. The coalition, comprised of Five Star and the rightist League party, is expected to set new finance and growth targets by Sept. 27 and present them to parliament. A draft budget has to go to the European Commission by Oct. 15.
Five Star lawmakers are working on a document that would press the finance minister to approve spending for the basic-income plan, La Stampa and daily la Repubblica reported. Di Maio was irritated by the fact that, in preliminary discussions, Tria was not planning to allocate more than an additional 1 billion euros for the plan, Stampa said.
Di Maio said late Tuesday that “a serious government minister must find the money somehow” for the populist programs, Ansa news agency reported. Di Maio denied reports that he’d sought Tria’s ouster over budget clashes. Tria told Di Maio on Monday that he’d resign if asked, Stampa reported.
Addressing the Italian business community at a Bloomberg-organized conference in Milan on Tuesday, Tria highlighted priorities including a reduction in the income tax burden and improving social protection for the poor. The finance chief also said he’s aiming for a “manageable budget impact” with an emphasis on more public investment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tommaso Ebhardt in Milan at tebhardt@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net, Jerrold Colten, Kevin Costelloe
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