The economy minister warned that Rome could not continue to spend eternally to soften the impact on the economy, noting that Italy’s net energy import costs are expected to more than double this year to about 100 billion euros ($99.5 billion).
Italy is more vulnerable to the present energy crisis in Europe because it imports 75% of the energy it uses.
In his remarks on Saturday at the annual Ambrosetti business event, Economy Minister Daniele Franco claimed that Italy’s huge debt limits its future options.
Following six aid packages totaling 52 billion euros in value to date, measures to help businesses and consumers deal with high energy costs will be approved the following week, according to Franco.
“It is incredibly expensive and we could never do enough to counteract, at least in part, growing energy prices through public finances,” he said.
Franco emphasized the importance of addressing how Europe’s energy market operates, as rising gas costs and declining Russian shipments have resulted in rising electricity prices.
What counts, according to Franco, is getting gas and electricity prices back to levels that are manageable.
Bruno Le Maire, France’s finance minister, stated at the same conference on Saturday that any connections between the price of gas and that of electricity must be broken, leading to “a total decoupling” of the two costs.
The cost of Italy’s net energy imports in 2021 was 43 billion euros, roughly in line with other years with the exception of 2020, which was impacted by the COVID-19 virus outbreak, according to Franco.
Franco cautioned that the increase of almost 60 billion euros anticipated in 2022 will erase the net surplus in trade with the rest of the world Italy recorded in recent years. This increase equals about three percentage points of gross domestic product.
We are sending a sizable portion of our purchasing power abroad, he continued.
