Italy’s cabinet approves EU-backed post-Covid recovery plan

Rome, Jan 14 : Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s cabinet passed a national recovery plan to boost the economy in the post-Covid phase.
Overall, the multi-year package was worth 310 billion euros (US $378.3 billion) over the next six years, most of which made of European Union (EU) funds, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
Italy is in fact meant to receive 209.9 billion euros in low-interest loans and grants from the EU. That is its portion of the 750-billion-euro European Recovery Fund provided by the Next Generation EU program approved by the EU in July 2020 to help member states cope with the economic consequences of the pandemic.
In the 172-page national plan, the Italian cabinet added 13 billion euros coming from the REACT EU social cohesion package, some 7.9 billion euros from other EU projects, and 79.8 billion euros in national funds provided by Italy’s financial program 2021-2026.
The “Recovery and Resilience Plan” outlines six macro-areas to which these funds will be allocated, and the kind of spending to be made (both in new projects and in some underway).
The six macro-areas of intervention, or strategic axes, including digitalization and innovation, green transition, health, and social inclusion; each area comprises different sectors.