The Council of Ministers on the Liquidity Decree has not yet been convened and it is expected tomorrow morning. The preparatory meetings to finalize the Bill are currently undergoing.
On the Decree technical and political gleanings still persist. Firstly, there has been huge discussion on State guarantee for bank loans to companies. Italia Viva, Matteo Renzi ’s Party, asks for a 100% guarantee, finding the M5S on the same line. Slightly different is the opinion of Minister Roberto Gualtieri, which asserted that the guarantee will be 100% for loans up to € 800,000 euros, and the Government will increase to 90% for loans up to 25% of the turnover. A meeting was held this morning at Palazzo Chigi between Prime Minister, Economy Minister and the CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Fabrizio Palermo, to discuss on the aforementioned issues. Tonight Minister of Economic Development announces the Guarantee Fund for SMEs will be strengthened with an allocation of around 7 billion until the end of the year, aimed to generate approximately 100 billion Euros of liquidity for companies with up to 499 employees. The Fund will act on three main strands: 100% guarantee for loans up to € 25,000 , without any credit assessment; 100% guarantee for loans of up to € 800,000, with creditworthiness assessment; 90% guarante e for loans up to € 5 million, being able to reach 100% with the counter-guarantee of the Confidi, with the evaluation of the economic-financial module only. Therefore, only the pre-crisis financial situation is taken into account, without considering the performance module. According to Minister, there will be no cost of investigation of the practice and companies with a number of employees not exceeding 499 are also allowed. Secondly, as per our sources, it’s under discussion the time extension on fiscal deadline postponement, with two options on the table: only on April, or both April and May. Furthermore, the Liquidity Decree would preview also golden power rules (extended
to agri-food, biomedical and technological sectors) and Elections postponement provisions.
Another topic of discussion within the majority is how to secure loans. The Five Stars Movement pushes for guarantees to arrive through Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). On the contrary, Minister Gualtieri advices on using Sace , a CDP subsidiary. However, this idea isn’t welcomed by Five Stars’ economic advisers. Moreover, the institution of the task force on gradual businesses’ openings and economic recovery, a request advocated by the Democratic Party , represents another point of friction. According to Vito Crimi, the task force must avoid members of the academy and intellectuals and embrace professionals and entrepreneurs, scientists, administrators and unions. After a light truce with opposition, the so called “phase 2” of epidemiological crisis could shape majority and as a consequence the Government.