Banks and healthcare are the open fronts of the maneuver, for which the moment of choices is approaching. With a confrontation that ignites on a political level, but also between politics and categories. "We move in a constitutional state of law and in the Constitution it is not written that some must be beaten", says the president of the ABI, Antonio Patuelli for the first public response to the intervention worth 5 billion that the government hypothesizes on banks, but also on insurance companies and financial institutions.
The framework of the maneuver is outlined: 23.5 billion, of which just over 10 are independent of the European safeguard clause for energy and defence. The blanket is short and it is more than likely that many of the hypothesized measures are alternatives to each other. The flat tax of up to 100 thousand euros aimed at by the League or the Irpef cut for incomes above 50 thousand euros sought by Forza Italia and Fratelli d'Italia. Generalized or targeted measures, even mini ones in some cases, such as discounts on public transport for students or the health bonus for the elderly. The choices will most likely be closed next week by the majority, while the opposition makes itself felt united and the leaders of the Senate have written to President Ignazio La Russa that there is a connection between the maneuver and the end of the Pnrr, on which the competent minister Tommaso Foti should be called to report. Some details also emerge from the documents processed. The magistrates appear to have obtained up to 100 thousand euros each to adjust their salaries for the period 2018-2023, following various rulings by the Council of State. The arrears would be up to over 70 thousand euros and the salary 20 thousand euros a year, according to a reconstruction by Il Sole 24 Ore, for a total total of 970 million. Sources from the National Association of Magistrates dispute the figure, which amounts to a quarter of what was calculated.
Certainly the first front is that of the banks. The Italian Banking Association is not willing to bear the brunt of the maneuver. "They are not paid by the bankers with the top hat of the City" but by investors and savers to whom "we must guarantee that there is legal certainty", said the president of the ABI, Antonio Patuelli, making a reference to the Constitution which does not provide for anyone to be beaten. Then came the digital euro, which will represent an increase in costs for institutions. Forza Italia is slowing down. For Antonio Tajani, who presses the button of comparison and says that the hypothesis of a tax on extra profits does not exist: prudence and a choice agreed with the sector are needed - he explains - because when you start putting taxes you know where you start and you don't know where you end up.
The theme is created by some swell in the majority. So much so that Northern League senator Claudio Borghi freezes him: call him what they want, but the contribution will be there. The League was certainly the first party from which the budget planning document was greeted with satisfaction, precisely because of the bill presented to the banks. Matteo Salvini also shows his closeness to the head of the Treasury and denies as "fantasies, lies and falsehoods" the news that Giancarlo Giorgetti will not be re-nominated in the next political elections. The issue of banks also bounces back in the comments of Fratelli d'Italia, which claims that the Meloni executive is the "first government" to make the banks pay, until now protected by left-wing governments. Avs deputy Nicola Fratoianni disagrees. For him, the government's "ballet" has been going on for years, and the measures on the banks are loans and advances that have been largely repaid.
Certainly Giorgetti's indications that he speaks of a sustainable intervention for which 'no one will die' also reassure the markets. The stock market is optimistic about a compromise and at the end Unicredit rose by 1.4%, Bper and Mps by 1.2%, Generali by 1.1%, Unipol by 2.8%, Intesa and Mediobanca by 0.9%, Fineco by 0.8%. All positive. For Intermonte analysts, the impact of the maneuver "should remain manageable". The hypotheses from which we start envisage that approximately 30% of the 2027 contribution derives from higher taxation, with an increase of 2 percentage points in the IRAP or IRES rate, and the remaining 70% from cash and temporal measures, with an average impact of 2.7% on the 2027 earnings per share. The parties also refine their positions on the other measures. The leader of Forza Italia is ready to take steps backwards, for example on the tax relief on thirteenth wages, but relaunches the issue of healthcare and hypothesizes a card for the elderly for expenses outside the healthcare service, from eye care to expensive drugs or dental visits. 'Free dentures' was a historic proposal by Silvio Berlusconi.
The topic is being studied by the Ministry of Economy, as is the flat tax on increases in young people's wages and for contractual increases. The decision - underlined by the Mef - will be up to the parties, the leaders and the Prime Minister. Then there is the issue of healthcare. The governors also want to have their say on health. The Health and Finance commission of the Conference of Regions has asked for 6.8 billion for the sector, so far less than half, 2.4, has been expected. "Only crumbs", according to the Democratic Party. More funds are needed, protests the president of the Campania Region, Roberto Fico, "and they are not whims", but the answer to cost increases. The Welfare Councilor of the Lombardy Region, Guido Bertolaso, is also worried: he hopes that the hypotheses circulated so far are "the usual gossip which has no basis".
