Meloni Told by IMF That Italy’s Energy Aid Must Be More Targeted

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni got told by the International Monetary Fund that her government’s energy aid should target poorer families rather than apply to everyone.

In its annual so-called Article IV report on the euro zone’s third-biggest economy, the Washington-based fund highlighted the country’s strained fiscal circumstances and called for government tax cuts to be revamped.

“The recent broad-based reduction in excise duties on diesel and petrol to cushion the impact of the shock should be replaced with targeted cash transfers to the most vulnerable households,” the IMF said on Wednesday, summing up conclusions of a recent mission to ...