Italy plans to approve on Thursday a new aid package worth around 14.3 billion euros ($14.5 billion); to help shield firms and families from surging energy costs and consumer prices, government officials said.
The scheme, one of the last major acts of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi before a national election next month, comes on top of some 33 billion euros budgeted since January to soften the impact of sky-high electricity, gas and petrol costs.
A draft decree seen by Reuters showed that Rome planned to extend to the fourth-quarter of this year; existing measures aimed at cutting electricity and gas bills for low-income families as well as reducing so-called “system-cost” levies.
Designed to help finance initiatives ranging from solar power subsidies to nuclear decommissioning; the levies typically accounted for more than 20% of Italian energy bills before the government started to act.