Italy’s national debt in 2021 will be the highest in a century and will amount to almost 160 percent of GDP, reports Bloomberg. It will exceed even the figure of the first year after the end of the Second World War when the ratio between public debt and GDP was 159.5 percent.
The budget deficit will widen to 11.8 percent this year as Europe’s third-largest economy seeks billions of extra euros in loans to help protect its citizens and businesses from the effects of the pandemic. In addition, the cost of stimulating the economy will exceed 170 billion euros ($203.5 billion).
More than 115 thousand people died from the coronavirus in Italy. The pandemic and the lockdowns imposed because of it brought down the tourism sector. Recently, there have been protests in Rome: restaurateurs and owners of other businesses are demanding that restrictions be relaxed. In other cities, demonstrators blocked roads. The Italian authorities have admitted that it will be possible to soften the restrictive regime by the end of April, priority will be given to outdoor events.
At the end of last year, the media reported that queues began to appear in front of food banks in Italy. Among them were skilled workers from enterprises that were forced to close or former businessmen.
The mafia joined the Italian economy: at the height of the pandemic, local mafia structures began to provide financial assistance to small and medium-sized businesses. However, this is not about altruism. Thus, the criminals try to put the recipients of” social benefits ” under their control in order to use them for money laundering in the future. Criminals first offer support, and when the business owner agrees to it, they switch to traditional methods of intimidation.
