Giorgetti says Italy's budget bill still awaits EU margins as debt limits room

A short blanket and a storm on the horizon

Italy's economy minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, addressed the general assembly of the Compagnia delle Opere by video link on 24 October 2026 and gave an update on the budget bill. He said the government had discussed the measures internally, with each component holding its own sensitivities, while keeping the course safe. The bill is expected to be approved in the week of 26 October 2026, but the government is still waiting for the European Union to finalise the margin under the escape clause for spending.

“I guarantee you that the stormy weather is always on the horizon.”

Giorgetti said Italy should not be seen as a spendthrift, noting that in some international and European forums the country had been viewed as spendthrift rather than prudent. He tied the caution to a public debt he called significantly high, to rising interest rates and to the higher cost of raw materials and energy. He added that the blanket is short and that political goals must be weighed against social balance.

A 23.5 billion euro bill with limited room

The bill totals 23.5 billion euros and reflects a global context of geopolitical tensions and expensive energy, which AGI says have fed into consumer prices. Once the energy flexibility agreed with Brussels is set aside, about 9 billion remains to fund the other measures, and AGI notes that choices still have to be made. Il Messaggero reports that most of the cover for the bill comes from European margins, and that Rome is asking the Commission to consider the effect of rising inflation on net spending, which the paper describes as the new compass of EU rules.

Total budget bill23.5

Remaining for other measures (approx.)9

Total budget bill

23.5 billion euros

Remaining for other measures (approx.)

9 billion euros

Data from the article text

Giorgetti described the Italian position as balanced in the same speech.

“I think the Italian position is balanced and I hope it will remain balanced in the medium term too.”

Competing priorities for the bill

Two meetings of majority leaders at Palazzo Chigi refined the priorities: wage support for younger workers, hiring incentives for women, especially mothers, health reimbursements and a possible income tax cut for the middle class. Technicians are studying options for workers under 30 to 35, including a large deduction, an income tax discount or a year-end adjustment to lift take-home pay. Forza Italia wants support for health spending, with a bonus or card whose ceiling is still to be set, aimed mainly at the elderly and the frail, while a health cashback is seen as harder to build. The League (Lega) wants an early exit window at 64 for 180,000 members of the mixed pension regime, but finding the funds would not be easy. A cut for the middle class, extending the 33% bracket, is being considered in two stages, first for incomes up to 55,000 euros and then up to 60,000 euros. Il Messaggero also reports one billion euros for transport, and the European Investment Bank has released a loan for urban mobility covering trains and metros.

Banks and insurers asked to contribute

The government is looking for about 5 billion euros from banks and insurers, a contribution that Il Messaggero says would cover half of the roughly 9 billion left, with another share coming from gaming. The paper says the request emerged almost by surprise from the tables of the Documento programmatico di bilancio, after earlier hints in politicians' statements. Banks had until now pointed to a pact signed a year earlier, under which the sector made 10.7 billion euros available through reshaping tax credits. On 23 October, Intesa Sanpaolo president Gian Maria Gros-Pietro said individual operators have always been willing, but a new deal must not have "the inconsistency of the previous one".

Timing and what comes next

AGI reports that the cabinet could approve the bill on Tuesday or Wednesday, that is 27 or 28 October 2026. Giorgetti said the targeted measures would become public in the coming days.

Giorgetti concluded that the route must be safe, while acknowledging that the parties in the majority hold different sensitivities.