Milan Stock Exchange Rises, Italian Government Announces Major Plan to Renovate 60,000 Homes

Economic and political events in Italy dominated Wednesday's markets, bringing investor optimism and concrete legislative announcements. The main index of the Milan exchange, the FTSE MIB, reached 47,170 points. The leaders of the gains were financial institutions, including Mediobanca (+4.58%) and MPS (+4.27%), which are awaiting approval of new strategic plans. Meanwhile, the energy conglomerate Eni finalized a €1.8 billion share buyback program, representing an additional form of compensation for shareholders beyond traditional dividends. In the infrastructure sector, Minister Matteo Salvini announced the launch of a special financial instrument worth €1.2 billion. These funds will be allocated to modernize 60,000 currently unused housing units from state resources. The program aims to shorten waiting lists for social housing, with the first construction works set to begin in 2026. Additionally, the infrastructure ministry announced that by the end of March, it will publish the framework rules for beach concession tenders, which are intended to protect small businesses from the expansion of international corporations. The Italian public housing market has struggled for decades with issues of underfunding and bureaucracy, leading to the decommissioning of thousands of units at critical moments for the country's housing policy.Significant news also came from the defense and technology sector. The president of the Leonardo corporation, Roberto Cingolani, suggested that a groundbreaking helicopter contract in the United Kingdom worth one billion pounds will be announced within the next day. The company also plans to increase its dividend by approximately 20% and is preparing to establish a joint venture in the aerospace structures sector. Concurrently in Brussels, Minister Tommaso Foti participated in negotiations regarding the EU budget for 2028–2034, emphasizing the need to protect funds for cohesion policy and agriculture. In the area of social policy, Minister Marina Calderone rejected the idea of introducing a statutory minimum wage, arguing that it could encourage companies to withdraw from collective bargaining agreements. Instead, the government is focusing on supporting wage negotiations between unions and employers and promoting a model of parity leave. Data from the labor market for 2025 shows an optimistic trend – the number of permanent employment contracts among young people increased by over 40% year-on-year. The debate over a minimum wage in Italy has been ongoing for years, as the country remains one of the few EU members where wages depend almost exclusively on sectoral collective bargaining agreements.„L'obiettivo è aprire cantieri già nel 2026, con 1 miliardo e 200 milioni di euro, per recuperare almeno 60.000 alloggi ora inutilizzabili” (The goal is to start construction sites already in 2026, with 1 billion and 200 million euros, to recover at least 60,000 homes currently unusable) — Matteo Salvini