-Households grappling with economic woes due to the virus will get extra time
-Comes as Italy announced it had doubled the amount to spend on the outbreak
-The country announced it would raise this year’s deficit goal to 2.5 per cent of national output from the current 2.2 per cent target
Payments on mortgages for families and small businesses will be suspended across the whole of Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak’s worsening impact on the country’s economy, the deputy economy minister said today.
‘Yes, that will be the case, for individuals and households,’ Laura Castelli, Italy’s deputy economy minister, said in an interview with Radio Anch’io today, when asked about the possibility.
Italy’s banking lobby ABI said on Monday lenders representing 90 per cent of total banking assets would offer debt moratoriums to small firms and households grappling with the economic fallout from Italy’s coronavirus outbreak.
The news comes as Italy announced that it had doubled the amount it plans to spend on tackling its coronavirus outbreak to £6.5billion and is raising this year’s deficit goal to 2.5 per cent of national output from the current 2.2 per cent target.
The move is being repeated across the globe, with British firms the Bank of Scotland offering similar financial protections for SMEs and individuals affected by the killer disease.
Speaking to La Repubblica, prime minister Conte yesterday vowed a course of ‘massive shock therapy’ to aid the Italian economy after much of its industrial and business heartland was shut down.
The Milan stock market, which was already down some 17 per cent since the outbreak in northern Italy, plunged at Monday’s opening, with the blue chip FTMIB index down 11 per cent.
Matching similar calls from France, Conte said strict European Union borrowing limits should be loosened to allow more room for manoeuvre, and that the flexibility envisaged by the EU’s budget rules should be used ‘in full’.
‘Europe cannot think of confronting an extraordinary situation with ordinary measures,’ he said.
The European Commission told Italy on Saturday that its planned extra spending in response to the outbreak would not be counted in measuring its compliance with EU budget rules.
‘The economic measures in the works will be vigorous, commensurate to current needs, but temporary,’ the economy ministry said, adding that Italy remained committed to reducing its debt as soon as possible.
The planned economic measures come as Italian Prime Minister Conte announced the entirety of the country would be placed on lock down.
Italian streets and piazzas were empty today while shoppers crammed into supermarkets to stock up for a lengthy quarantine as the country began an unprecedented nationwide quarantine.
Milan’s shopping galleries, Rome’s Spanish Steps and the Vatican’s St Peter’s Square were all deserted today after prime minister Conte extended the drastic coronavirus measures to the entire country last night.
Panic-buyers were packing into supermarkets in Rome this morning with queues stretching outside because of a rule that demands a 3ft gap between shoppers – meaning only a limited number can go inside at once.
In Naples, police were roaming the streets with a loudhailer last night to warn people to ‘stay indoors, avoid unnecessary outings and avoid crowded places’ because of the ‘coronavirus emergency’.
Conte declared last night that ‘everyone must give up something to protect the health of citizens’ with 9,000 virus cases confirmed in Italy and 463 people dead.
Anyone with a fever has been ordered to stay indoors with travel banned except in emergencies and public gatherings including weddings, funerals and sports fixtures shut down.
The virus is spreading so quickly that doctors are now having to make life-or-death decisions about who gets access to intensive care.
The economy has been crippled by COVID-19, with £150billion wiped off the value of leading UK firms yesterday on what was termed a new Black Monday.
The International Monetary Fund told governments and central banks around the world yesterday to take ‘targeted’ action to help households and businesses, including cutting interest rates.
Source: dailymail.co.uk
