“End Is Nigh” Warn Business Leaders

Time is running out for Italian industry. Business is in a “desperate” condition with companies “very close to the end”. This umpteenth warning came from Confindustria chair Giorgio Squinzi during talks with the mandated prime minister, Pier Luigi Bersani, in which Mr Squinzi appealed for a swift return to “a stable government”. Given the three million Italians out of work, with a spike of almost 40% for young people, Mr Squinzi pointed out that the employment issue “is becoming a tragedy”.

Confindustria had no option but to be “extremely concerned about Italy’s real economy”, warned Mr Squinzi. The Confindustria leader said “intervention is needed with absolute priority”, starting with payment of the public sector’s outstanding debts to businesses and implementing what he described as a no-holds-barred “shock treatment” for the first hundred days of government. This could include a review of the Fornero law and slashing the cost of labour, where he said there was room for an 8% cut. Money owed by the public sector is also the first item on the agenda of the banking association ABI and the insurers’ umbrella organisation ANIA. Both stress the urgent need for a government with full powers and full responsibility, appealing for an injection of liquidity to resrtructure businesses’ and banks’ liabilities. Joining the chorus of calls for a new government as soon as possible is the alliance of Italian cooperatives (ACI), which wants an easing of the internal stability pact and the restoration of domestic credit to businesses and farming associations, starting with COPAGRI and Coldiretti.

English translation by Giles Watson

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