Italy’s lower house backed Giorgia Meloni’s plan to expand borrowing to finance labor cost cuts, after suffering an embarrassing defeat in parliament on Thursday.
(Bloomberg) — Italy’s lower house backed Giorgia Meloni’s plan to expand borrowing to finance labor cost cuts, after suffering an embarrassing defeat in parliament on Thursday.
A large majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the government request for extra deficit spending, which requires the support of an absolute majority of lawmakers to be approved.
The government’s defeat on Thursday was arguably self-inflicted as too few coalition lawmakers were present to pass the bill. Still, it cast an uncomfortable light on the authority of Meloni’s six-month-old right-wing coalition and on its capacity to carry through with controversial reforms in the future.
Adding to the disarray, Meloni herself was traveling outside Italy for a state visit to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the vote.
A cabinet meeting was hastily called Thursday evening to submit a similar request for borrowing, which is the one voted in parliament today. In order to be approved, the request also requires the backing of the Senate, where a vote is scheduled later Friday.
The extra borrowing authorized by the parliament will allow Meloni to carry trough with her promise to introduce cuts to labor costs at a May 1 cabinet meeting.
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