Manoeuvre, from the Strait Bridge to Bankitalia's gold: here are the novelties

The value of the manoeuvre increases. With a new 3.5 billion amendment package, the government adds another substantial piece to the budget law passed two months ago. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti appeared in person in the Senate to announce the amendment, which will arrive only in the next few hours, as well as to reassure on Bankitalia's gold and on the timing and method of examination. But the surprise move risks complicating the committee process. In fact, the oppositions rise up and denounce the 'chaos' in the executive that continues to rewrite the text.

'I wanted to rightly clarify the gold affair to Parliament because they only read in your newspapers how it went' and 'explain this government amendment', Giorgetti clarified. An amendment on Zes and Transition 5.0, given that 'we have had significant requests beyond the forecasts', which 'we feel we must at least reasonably cover'. The amendment, according to what the senators were told, is worth 3.5 billion (which should only be spread over 2026) and would contain measures on ZES, hyper-depreciation, Industry 5.0, and expensive materials, in addition to shifting the financing of the Strait Bridge to another year and additional resources - according to one of the rapporteurs, the Lega Nord's Claudio Borghi - for the Casa plan. Considering also the reformulations arrived in recent days, worth about 1 billion, the value of the manoeuvre - which as originally written by the government is worth 18.7 billion for 2026 - seems destined to increase. However, the government's new amendment threatens to complicate the timetable. The amendment is 'important' and 'will inevitably take some extra time', Giorgetti himself acknowledges.

The Chamber of Palazzo Madama has taken note of the prolonged work in committee and will reconvene today, Tuesday 16 December, at 10 a.m. before being suspended and resuming at the end of the group leader's meeting convened for 12 noon to establish a new work schedule. This was announced by Deputy Chairperson Licia Ronzulli.

One of the main novelties, which has not failed to increase the political clash between the majority and oppositions, is the fact that in the manoeuvre there will "be a reprogramming" of the bridge resources, as Liris explained. "There is a delay in these proceedings," he added, "due to the fact that some situations will have to see reprogramming due to the fact that for a year we have not been able to talk for obvious reasons related to the judiciary. Asked if there will be reprogramming of the bridge's resources, the senator replied, "Yes, from next year. A note from the MIT specified that 'the government has guaranteed financial coverage for the work: due to the intervention of the Court of Auditors, the further investigations requested are underway and this is why the funds have been reallocated so that construction sites will be opened in the coming months instead of by the end of the year as hoped'.

The matter of Bankitalia's gold amendment after the ECB's opinion comes to a close. "On the ECB, we are fine," said Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti. "In the reformulation that I presented on behalf of the government, we believe that the issue can be considered closed," he added. The text of the amendment to the Budget Bill on gold held by the Bank of Italy, reformulated after the dialogue between the Minister of the Economy and ECB President Lagarde, according to what the minister himself read out to the Bureau of the Budget Commission, reads: "Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 123, 127 and 130 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the second paragraph of Article 4 of the Consolidated Law on Currency, set out in Presidential Decree No. 148 of 31 March 1988, is to be interpreted as meaning that the gold reserves managed and held by the Bank of Italy, as entered in its balance sheet, belong to the Italian people".