“The government passes off a real estate Def as prudent, we risk losing billions on the Pnrr”

ROME. The Def is “inadequate” and “short-lived” and “the knots will soon come home to roost”. Antonio Misiani is responsible for the economy of the Pd secretariat, senator and former deputy minister at the Mef. He does not give the government discounts, the economic and financial planning document is insufficient in his opinion, and he is also worried about the Pnrr, which could give a boost to GDP and which, instead, is late and “some of the majority are even asking to give up part of the resources.

At least 23-26 billion are needed for the next maneuver according to the “Sole24ore”, but the Def identifies only 5.7. Where do you get the others?
«Caution on budget balances is necessary: ​​from next year the European rules will return, even if they have been revised. And then we have to deal with rising interest rates. That said, the Meloni government passes off a immobilist, inadequate and short-lived Def as prudent. The truth is that the knots will soon come to a head and will require much more resources than those made available by the limited extra-deficit planned for 2024″.

And, precisely considering the EU constraints on public finances, how are these resources found?
“I mention three possible measures. The first: to fight tax evasion seriously. The opposite of what the government is doing, which has included an amnesty even in the latest bill bill. Second: a much more ambitious review of public spending than the minimalist one envisaged by the Def. Third: extra profits. Even the ECB tells us that a profit-price spiral is underway. At least part of the necessary resources could be recovered with an extraordinary intervention similar to those of 2022-2023 but extended to all sectors”.

However, the cut in the tax wedge is a measure that you too had imagined.
«In December we said that the cut envisaged by the budget law was completely insufficient. Now the government agrees with us. The point is that it is once again a limited and one-off measure, while the collapse in the purchasing power of wages is dramatic: the shopping cart increased by almost 13 percent in March, contractual wages grow less than 2. Patches are not enough, a strategy is needed: a larger and more structural wedge cut, a law on the minimum wage, the renewal of expired employment contracts».

Elly Schlein has threatened “barricades” on health care. Is the situation that serious?
«It is one of the fronts that most alarms us. An extra euro is not foreseen for the health fund in the Def, while 15 billion would be needed to reach 7 percent of GDP. The system risks collapsing, with the commissioning of many regions and, consequently, the cutting of services and the increase of local taxes. The government is not giving answers to all of this ».

On the Pnrr, the government accuses the previous executives. Are you willing to cooperate to avoid losing money? Is it right to review the objectives?
«We are risking big, the danger is losing billions and credibility. The government has spent months fiddling around and playing the blame game. Instead, as President Mattarella has asked, a general mobilization of the whole country would be needed. We are ready to do our part, but the government must come to Parliament and give precise indications on the investments and reforms of the Plan. It is vital not to lose a single euro of the available resources».

Is the money provided for in the Def for tax interventions enough?
“No, they won’t be enough. Choices will have to be made. For us, the priority is to cut labor taxes on low and middle income earners. The rest comes later. It would not be acceptable to give priority to unfair and regressive measures such as the “flat tax”, sacrificing the protection of the incomes of the vast majority of taxpayers to this ideological objective”.

The government’s estimates of GDP are more optimistic than those of the IMF. Who is right?
“We hope the government is right, of course. But what is striking is that the Def certifies the insignificant impact on growth of the next budget maneuver: from +1.4 to +1.5 percent. There would be the possibility of doing much better by speeding up the Pnrr. But the government does not have clear ideas, while some in the majority are even asking to give up part of the European resources”.