Draghi says Recovery Plan holds key to Italy's "destiny"

Prime Minister Mario Draghi presented a multi-billion-euro economic Recovery Plan to parliament on Monday, telling lawmakers it held the key to Italy's future wellbeing after the ravages of the coronavirus. Most of the cash will come from a special European Union kitty, to be spent on schemes to improve Italy's fragile infrastructure, boost environmentally sustainable development and encourage digital innovation.


Reuters | Rome | Updated: 26-04-2021 21:18 IST | Created: 26-04-2021 21:17 IST
Draghi says Recovery Plan holds key to Italy's "destiny"
File Photo Image Credit: Flickr
  • Country:
  • Italy

Prime Minister Mario Draghi presented a multi-billion-euro economic Recovery Plan to parliament on Monday, telling lawmakers it held the key to Italy's future wellbeing after the ravages of the coronavirus.

Most of the cash will come from a special European Union kitty, to be spent on schemes to improve Italy's fragile infrastructure, boost environmentally sustainable development and encourage digital innovation. "The destiny of the country lies in this set of projects," Draghi told the lower house of parliament.

Draghi aims to present the 336-page document to the European Commission by an April 30 target date and intervened directly in talks with Brussels on Saturday to overcome some of the Commission's concerns about the plan. The EU cash will be disbursed to the 27 member states in installments through 2026, conditional on benchmarks being met and reforms adopted.

Italy, the main recipient, is entitled to some 205 billion euros ($247.56 billion) of cheap loans and grants. This will be topped up by 30.6 bln euros of its own borrowing. Draghi said Rome's Recovery Plan offered hope to a country harder hit than most of its European neighbours by the coronavirus pandemic, with almost 120,000 official deaths "and many more that were never recorded".

Hit by lockdown measures, Italy's chronically sluggish economy shrank by 9% last year and is still mired in recession. While the government hopes the inflow of funds for investment can finally unleash growth, Draghi told parliament "the aspect of the reforms is fundamental".

These include an overhaul of the state bureaucracy, the justice system, the tax system and public tender processes. Italy has promised many of these reforms in the past but with little tangible success. Adding to the complications this time around is the fact that new elections are due by 2023 at the latest, giving Draghi a very tight window of opportunity.

The country has also been notoriously inefficient in using EU-funds, but Draghi vowed it would not squander this historic opportunity. "I am certain that we will manage to put this plan into practice," he said to loud applause.

"I am certain that honesty, intelligence and an appetite for the future will prevail over corruption, stupidity and vested interests." ($1 = 0.8281 euros)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Give Feedback