Giorgetti targets pay rises and debt in 2027 budget
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Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti describes his 2027 budget as "prudent," a term that includes both a new 5% tax on salary increases and the admission that national debt will continue to rise until 2028. To keep the books roughly in line, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has extracted €8bn in cuts from the defense budget, over the audible protests of her defense and enterprise ministers.
The opposition remains unimpressed by the fiscal math. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein has told the government to go home, though her more immediate challenge appears to be convincing her own allies that her party is the one leading the charge against the coalition.
In the courts, the ghost of Silvio Berlusconi has returned via the testimony of Mafia boss Giuseppe Graviano. Graviano claims his grandfather helped the late prime minister found a company; his lawyer suggests that if Graviano were released from prison, he might be able to find the paperwork to prove it. Forza Italia, Berlusconi's political heirs, have dismissed the claim as a conspiracy.