Italy approves tight budget partly funded by a levy on banks and insurers

abcnews.go.com:

Italy’s far-right government has approved a budget for next year of about 30 billion euros, or $33 billion, which officials say will be partly funded by a levy on Italian banks and insurers

ROME — Italy’s far-right government has approved a budget for next year of about 30 billion euros ($33 billion), which officials say will be partly funded by a levy on Italian banks and insurers.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said late Tuesday that the government expected to raise some 3.5 billion euros from banks and insurance companies to ensure better public services, especially the country's struggling health service, and help the most vulnerable citizens.

“As we promised, there will be no new taxes for citizens,” Meloni wrote in a post on X.

The 2025 budget law was agreed by ministers at a cabinet meeting late Tuesday, just in time to meet a deadline to submit the plan to the European Union. The measures still need to be approved by the Italian parliament, with a final vote expected by the end of the year.

Economy and Finance minister Giancarlo Giorgetti had been under intense pressure for weeks to reconcile the need to speed up Italy’s deficit reduction — closely watched by the EU — with the government’s expensive electoral promises.

“Someone would call it an extra profit (tax), I call it a sacrifice,” Giorgetti said at a press conference on Wednesday, commenting on the new levy on banks and insurers.

Government officials didn’t release details on the new financial levy. But some Italian media reported it would focus on temporarily removing deductions for lenders’ so-called deferred tax assets and increasing taxes on bankers’ stock options.

The minister revisited a prior plan by the right-wing government, which has repeatedly