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ECONOMY

Italy has met targets for next EU recovery funds, Draghi says

Italy has ticked all the necessary boxes to receive the next instalment of EU recovery funds from Brussels, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Published: 22 December 2021 13:16 CET
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi leaves after a press conference
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi leaves after a press conference . Photo: Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP

Rome “has achieved all 51 targets” needed to qualify for the next tranche of nearly 200 billion euros ($177 billion) allocated to Italy as part of the EU’s post-virus fund, he said at a press conference.

Brussels has demanded reforms in return for the grants and loans.

Draghi, who has been driving such reforms through parliament in record time, said Rome intended to “radically reform the economy and stimulate productivity, simplify bureaucracy and encourage innovation”.

Rome received its first check in August for 24.9 billion euros from the European Commission — 13 percent of the total funds expected from Brussels over six years.

Reforms demanded by the European Commission and adopted by Italy include an overhaul of the justice system, one of the least efficient in Europe, and a reform aimed at regularizing real estate.

Member comments

  1. Do you know what the 51 targets are that have been met by the government regarding the funds from the E U
    Thanks Bernadette

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PROPERTY

Italian mortgage rates fall for first time in two years

Mortgage interest rates fell in December for the first time after 24 months of increases, Italian banking association ABI said on Tuesday.

Published: 16 January 2024 15:07 CET
Italian mortgage rates fall for first time in two years

ABI said the average interest rate applied to new mortgages at the end of 2023 was 4.42 percent, down from 4.5 in November, reported financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

The small drop marked the end of two years of consecutive monthly rises to the average rate, giving some hope to prospective home buyers facing a steady rise in the cost of borrowing.

READ ALSO: What to expect from Italy’s property market in 2024

In December 2022 the average rate on a mortgage in Italy was recorded at 3.01 percent.

Mortgage rates have risen as a result of the European Central Bank’s interest rate hikes designed to combat inflation, reported Il Sole 24 Ore.

The ECB was expected to starting cutting interest rates later in 2024, further easing the pressure on borrowing, and there has already been a decrease on rates on loans between banks in anticipation.

Italy’s property market slowed down notably in 2023 after growing for the first time in years amid the pandemic, with the number of mortgages granted in the first half of 2023 down by 30 percent on the same period the year before.

The number of property sales in Italy was expected to fall again in 2024, according to the Real Estate Market Observatory from Italian data analysts Nomisma.

They also predicted average property prices will rise slightly, by 0.2 percent, though this was a predicted decrease on the growth of the last two quarters.

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