To deal with the health and economic crisis caused by Covid, since last spring the German government has disbursed 284 billion euros to support, in particular, workers, businesses, schools, transport and health. Well 194 more than those allocated for the same areas by our executive. Also including the measures introduced this week with the “Ristori decree”, since the beginning of the pandemic the Conte government, on the other hand, paid almost 90 billion euros. Equally significant was the effort made by the United Kingdom, which intervened with 201 billion, while France with 110 and Spain with 46 did, like Italy, much less than both London and Berlin. To say it is the CGIA. Underlines the coordinator of the Studies Office Paolo Zabeo:
"If we also take into account the economic measures developed in recent days by the French government, among our main economic competitors considered in this comparison only Spain has spent less than our country. Also in relation to GDP, we remain penultimate, although in the first wave of this pandemic we were the most affected country in Europe. It is true that having a very high public debt these measures can only finance them in deficit, but it is equally true that we are the second largest manufacturer in Europe and being one of the backbones of the European economy, we deserved, from our executive, much more. attention, especially in terms of investments ".
The CGIA, moreover, returns to report the strong risk of incurring, in a few months, a new credit squeeze to the detriment of many artisans, small traders and VAT numbers. Report the secretary Renato Mason:
"Although the loans of less than 30 thousand euros requested from the Guarantee Fund are now close to 19 billion, for many small and micro enterprises the difficulties in accessing bank credit still remain a serious problem which, in light of the new European provisions, risks even worsening. . In fact, starting from 1 January 2021, all credit institutions will have to apply the new EU rules on the classification of defaulting counterparties. In other words, banks will have to define as defaulting individuals or small and medium-sized enterprises that have a backlog of more than 90 days, the amount of which is, at the same time, greater than 100 euros and greater than 1% of the total exposures to the Banking Group. In short, these new provisions will significantly lower the overrun threshold, putting at risk the economic support of the banking system for many small businesses that have always been short of liquidity and poorly capitalized ".
In addition to the refreshments, in Italy you must also compensate the fixed costs
On the front of the measures in support of the activities forced to close completely or partially, the CGIA emphasizes that the State, the Regions and the Municipalities have the right / duty to set up all the limitations they deem useful to protect public health. However, it is clear that in the face of the closure of economic activities, the latter must be economically helped, as was done in the first phase of this pandemic. The situation today, however, is very different from that experienced last spring. If then all the businesses had been forced to close and only the essential ones remained open, today all the activities are open and only some sectors have been subject to restrictions. For the latter, therefore, simple refreshments are no longer sufficient, but an allocation is necessary that fully compensates both the missed collections and the current expenses they continue to incur. In light of this, we would like to point out that since 13 October the European Union has modified the Temporary Framework (temporary framework for State aid measures to businesses) extending their effects until 30 June 2021. Furthermore, Member States will be able to grant aid up to 90 per cent of the fixed costs incurred by companies that, as a result of Covid, have suffered a drop in turnover of at least 30 percent. These costs include rents, energy bills, insurance costs, etc. Therefore, the refreshments, based on the fall in turnover, are no longer sufficient; the Conte government must compensate - as Germany has continued to do in recent days after introducing a new mini-lockdown - also the fixed costs incurred by the companies concerned by decree upon closure.
Aid to SMEs: how individual countries have behaved
In Germany, with reference to the measures provided to companies, the 100 billion euros for the purchase of shareholdings in companies affected by the crisis and the 18 billion euros for individual firms and micro-enterprises stand out. Also significant were the 25 billion that was spent to "restart" the companies that suffered a drop in revenues of over 60 percent compared to 2019. These production companies received compensation of up to 70 percent of the fixed costs incurred. .
In the United Kingdom, again with reference to measures to support businesses, there are 15 billion pounds (17 billion euros at the 2019 average exchange rate) of grants to small businesses and another 15 billion pounds for income support of self-employed workers.
In France, € 8 billion in subsidies have been allocated to small businesses with a turnover of less than € 1 million, which lost at least 50 per cent of revenues last March; 3 billion euros for the cancellation of taxes and social security contributions for companies and self-employed workers in difficulty; an estimated € 9,3 billion to support the tourism industry and another € 8 billion to support the automotive sector.
Finally, in Italy, the main measures introduced for companies concerned the non-repayable grants in favor of subjects who suffered reductions in turnover (7,3 billion euros with the initial measures), the cancellation of IRAP (balance 2019 and first advance installment 2020 for a total of almost 4 billion euros), the measures to relaunch tourism / culture (1 billion euros); tax concessions for sanitization / rental-instrumental property leases for 1,7 billion euros and another 1,7 billion euros planned for the tax credit holidays. To these main measures we also point out the one-off indemnities paid to self-employed workers and the last resources provided for by the “Ristori decree”.
Some methodological clarifications
The CGIA Studies Office underlines that in the comparison made in this processing, the absolute value data of foreign countries have been extrapolated from an analysis prepared by Think Tank Bruegel. It should also be noted that each nation has a different update date of the measures supported in support of their respective economies which, obviously, requires a certain prudence when comparing countries.
The “measures with immediate fiscal impulse” constitute the indicator that the Think Tank Bruegel took as a reference. By "immediate fiscal impulse measures" we mean the additional public spending (such as healthcare costs, support measures for employees, subsidies to SMEs, public investments) incurred by each country to counteract the negative effects caused by Covid. This indicator, therefore, also includes the reduction of revenues (such as the cancellation of some taxes and social security contributions); in essence we refer to those measures which contributed to the deterioration of the budget balance without any subsequent direct compensation. Therefore, tax deferrals and liquidity support introduced by many countries through the issuance of public guarantees are not included.