Advertisement

Italian Senate approves 2014 budget

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Italian Senate approves 2014 budget
The budget passed with 167 senators in favour and 110 against. Photo: Guy Sie/Flickr

Senators in Italy on Monday gave their final approval to the 2014 budget, which is intended to tackle an enduring social crisis even after the formal end of the country's longest post-war recession.

Advertisement

The government has said the budget "reverses" the austerity trend of recent years but critics including trade unions and the business lobby Confindustria warn that it is not enough to stimulate growth.

The budget passed with 167 in favour and 110 against.

It includes the creation of a fund with proceeds from bureaucratic cuts to be used to lower income tax, as well as measures to encourage hiring of workers, higher taxes on large pensions and the introduction of a new benefits scheme for the unemployed.

Italy's economy, the third-biggest in the eurozone, ended two years of contraction in the third quarter with zero-percent growth but unemployment is still at record-high levels and thousands of businesses have been forced to shut down in the crisis.

SEE ALSO: Italy adopts 2014 budget to tackle social crisis

Don't miss a story about Italy - Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also