Category: Italy

Italian Mafia Has Larger Annual Budget Than The EU

Organised crime syndicates in Italy operate on an annual budget of more than 200 billion euros ($276 billion), claimed the country’s foreign ministry on Tuesday, with significant investments both in and outside Italy.

Speaking at the Second Annual European Cyber Security Conference in Brussels, Giovanni Brauzzi, security policy director at the Italian ministry of foreign affairs, said that crime syndicates in Italy had begun to shift their “investments” overseas, with just 10 percent of their budget still parked within the country.

Ex-Italy PM Paid “Millions” In Protection Money To Mafia: Court

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had a 20-year pact with the mafia for protection and help with his business interests in exchange for millions of euros in payment, alleged Italian judges in a new judicial report released last week.

The leader of the People of Freedom (PdL) party was implicated in a Palermo court after his long-time associate Marcello Dell’Utri had been convicted recently for his mafia connections.

Italy Credit Rating Downgraded To Two Levels Above Junk

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday lowered Italy’s sovereign credit rating to BBB from BBB+ and placed its outlook on negative, citing weakening prospects for the eurozone’s third largest economy as it remains stuck in its worst recession since World War 2.

The agency also lowered its GDP forecast for Italy in 2013 to -1.9 percent, compared with an earlier forecast of -1.4 percent.

Italy Faces €8bn Debt Restructuring Losses

Italy could face losses of about 8 billion euros on derivative contracts that were restructured at the height of the eurozone crisis, reported the Financial Times and Italian daily La Repubblica, which also alleged that Rome used the contracts to “window dress” its public accounts to join the euro in 1999.

The newspapers, which quoted a 29-page report from the Treasury, said the contracts worth about 32 billion euros were taken out in the 1990s while European Central Bank president Mario Draghi was Director General of the Italian Treasury.

Millions Falling Into Poverty As Italy Endures Recession and Soaring Unemployment

Almost 15 million people, or a quarter of the population, in Italy were living in some form of economic hardship at the end of 2012, as the eurozone’s third largest economy endures one of its longest recessions amid soaring unemployment and drastic spending cuts.

The recession that has lasted almost two years has taken a toll on ordinary Italians who are increasingly digging into their savings to make ends meet, said Italy’s national statistic agency ISTAT in its annual State of the Nation report.

Italy Ponders Radical ‘Job Sharing’ Scheme To Improve Youth Unemployment

The Italian government is reportedly considering a “generational handoff” scheme that will see older workers reduce their work hours in order to mentor younger employees at the same job, said the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, in the latest idea to bring down youth unemployment in the country, which has hit 38.4 percent despite possessing the most educated generation in its history.

New Italian PM Suspends €6 Billion In Planned Tax Rises

Italy’s new government, led by Prime Minister Enrico Letta, have vowed to reverse Rome’s era of austerity, beginning with the cancelation of an unpopular tax hike on primary residences due in June and pledging not to raise the sales tax while reducing some payroll taxes.

Letta, who won his first vote of confidence in parliament on Monday by 453 votes to 153, said that Italy could ill afford to focus simply on cutting its public debt, but rather needed a new emphasis on lifting the economy out of recession.

Italy May Appoint Second Technocrat Government: Reports

Italy’s president Giorgio Napolitano is considering the creation of a second technocratic government to run the country, amid signs that the nation’s key parties would not be able to reach an accord over last week’s election results, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.

Italy’s Businessmen Fume At ‘Shameful’ Politicians

Prominent business leaders in Italy have expressed alarm and fury at the nation’s political gridlock; and have urged politicians to put aside their differences in order to form a grand coalition government that can deal with the nation’s immediate pressing issues.

“The real economy cannot wait for political machinations,” said Giorgio Squinzi, the usually mild-mannered head of Italian business lobby Confindustria, warning that the upcoming six months could essentially determine Italy’s fate.