Italy’s Parliament approved the government’s 2026 budget on Tuesday, backing a package designed to reduce the country’s deficit in line with European Union fiscal demands, the Associated Press reported.
The budget, described as about €22 billion ($25.9 billion), sets a target to reduce the 2026 deficit to 2.8% of gross domestic product, down from a previously targeted 3%, the AP said.
The conservative coalition led by Premier Giorgia Meloni secured approval in the lower house by a vote of 216-126, according to the AP’s account of the final tally.
In a post on X after the approval, Meloni said, “The budget is serious and responsible, built in a challenging context, which concentrates the limited resources available on families, work, businesses and health care,” the report said.
The center-left opposition criticized the measures, saying they do not address what they described as Italy’s broader cost-of-living pressures, including increasingly poor salaries and high taxes, the AP reported.
Elly Schlein, leader of Italy’s Democratic Party, said the government’s budget law was inspired by austerity and would be unable to help low-income workers and families cope with rising prices, the AP said.
The AP reported that about 25% of the budget’s funding comes from the financial sector, with tax hikes affecting banks and insurance companies.
The European Central Bank has warned that those levies could push domestic banks to cut credit, a concern the AP said it raised in relation to families and businesses.