Dpfp, hearings in the House and Senate on Monday 12 October. Chude Giorgetti

Six auditions in four hours. On Monday 12 October, the Budget commissions of the House and Senate open the examination of the public finance planning document (DPFP). From 2pm, Istat, the Court of Auditors, Cnel, the Bank of Italy and the Parliamentary Budget Office will be heard. The Minister of Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti, will close at 6pm.

This is the hearing program established for next week, after the Council of Ministers approved the Prime Ministerial Decree and the report on the budget variance request on Friday 2 October, which arrived at the Chambers the following night.

The starting framework sees growth of 1% for 2026, up compared to the 0.6% indicated in April in the Public Finance Document, and a deficit of 2.9% of GDP, below the 3% threshold. However, the Document recalls the "high uncertainty" internationally and a "slower than expected" recovery in oil and gas prices. If the trend in energy prices were less favourable, growth would lose 0.2 points in 2027 and 0.1 in 2028 compared to the basic framework. At the press conference, Giorgetti indicated a "more prudent" approach to the budget law compared to the announcements.

The deviation requested from Parliament is worth up to approximately 29 billion in the two-year period 2027-2028. This is 0.3% of GDP per year for each of the two items covered by the national safeguard clause (NEC), energy and defence. The activation request was sent to Brussels on 10 September. The minister explained that the defense quota has been reduced compared to initial intentions. In August, in the Chamber, Giorgetti had indicated 0.9% of GDP for defense and 0.6% for energy.

With the Nec, net debt would rise to 3.4% in 2027 and 3.2% in 2028, before falling to 2.3% in 2029. Without the clause it would stop at 2.8% and 2.6%, with a difference equal to exactly 0.6% of the two items. According to Giorgetti, compliance with the threshold must be measured on these purified values. The DPFP predicts that, if the EU Commission's 2027 spring forecasts confirm the trend, the Council could close the excessive deficit procedure opened in 2024, on the basis of final data for 2026.