How to improve Conte and Gualtieri’s Pnrr. Word of the Draghian Scannapieco (Bei)
What Dario Scannapieco, Bei vice president said in the parliamentary hearing, on the draft Pnrr of the Conte government. Criticisms and proposals (in harmony with the Draghi government)
“The first assessment of the National Plan is that it is in line with the requests of the European Commission and the priorities of the country. But we need to decline and strengthen the part linked to structural reforms, above all taxation, justice and public administration ”.
This is what was remarked by the vice president of the European Investment Bank, Dario Scannapieco, who also holds the position of president of the EIF, the European Investment Fund, in a hearing with the joint budget and policy commissions of the European Union of the Chamber and Senate , on the proposal of Pnrr.
If the Pnrr drawn up by Conte and Gualtieri is in line with the indications of Brussels, now the new Draghi executive must, however, intervene on the part linked to the reforms according to the leaders of the European Investment Bank.
The EIB vice president also recalled that the crisis linked to Covid is "different from the previous ones". It fits "into a difficult context" throughout the European Union, and within this situation Italy "is more vulnerable to crises".
On the Recovey Fund, the Bei group “could support the Italian authorities for the creation of a fund of funds dedicated to SMEs in the industrial sectors, circular economy, social housing, sustainable tourism”, is the proposal put forward by the Bei vice president, Scannapieco.
Here are all the details on the parliamentary hearing, in which Scannapieco also made proposals to improve the governance of the Plan, with an active role also for the Bei
OUR MOST VULNERABLE COUNTRY TO CRISIS
Italy "is more vulnerable to crises and slower in recovery". "A possible, obviously undesirable, downgrade would mean that a series of institutional investors would not buy public debt securities, but we have all the cards to avoid this scenario", said the vice president of the EIB, speaking of the European and Italian macroeconomic context and underlining the "ceiling" on the growth of our country in the last 20-30 years.
ITALY TAIL LIGHT FOR GDP
“Italy – explained Scannapieco – is trailing behind for growth in gross domestic product. We know that it is important to strongly support growth because it allows us to make the debt / GDP ratio more sustainable and it must be done in a context in which the rating of Italian public debt securities is a step above being 'non investment grade' " .
THE TRUST PROVIDED BY THE DRAGHI GOVERNMENT
"The new government has brought strong hope and new confidence," said Scannapieco, who worked with Draghi when the current prime minister was the Treasury general manager.
Furthermore, Scannapieco noted, always in tune with Draghi, “President Draghi's keynote speech appears in line with the sense of urgency to equip the country with the appropriate tools to face the challenge represented by the Recovery Fund”.
Now it is necessary “to rapidly develop a policy aimed at sustainable growth and accompany this opportunity with reforms that create strong discontinuity with respect to the past. The keywords ”for the Recovery fund are“ discontinuity, ambition, concreteness and speed ”.
PNRR IN LINE WITH THE REQUESTS OF BRUSSELS …
For the vice president of the EIB, the Pnrr approved by Italy "is in line with the requests of the European Commission and the country's priorities, primarily with reference to the urgency of investing in the double transition, green and digital, and social cohesion" .
… THERE IS A BUT
"But we must decline and strengthen the part linked to structural reforms, first of all taxation, justice and PA", remarked the vice president of the BEI.
The Recovery fund, underlined Scannapieco, should not be seen only as "a financial opportunity", but as an opportunity "to create discontinuity in the way in which the country works".
STRUCTURAL REFORMS NEEDED
In fact, Scannapieco highlighted how "the correct use of the Recovery Fund" is "important" and the need to "act quickly to ground investments" and "unleash the Italian growth potential".
“Italy must change pace, we need a more efficient public administration, there is slow justice, a tax system that must be simplified. We need to have a long-term vision, ”he said referring to the reforms to be implemented. “In the short term”, faced with “an emergency of social cohesion” caused by the pandemic, “we must try to guarantee social cohesion and, therefore, support work. In the medium term we must strengthen competitiveness by supporting the digital transition and from today we must support the fight against climate change through the ecological transition ”, said the EIB vice president.
A MORE SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC FINANCE IS NEEDED
“We don't have much time and we have to act in discontinuity because the times are set by Europe and they are very tight, not compatible with the ordinary way of doing that Italy has had”, Scannapieco pointed out. "Because then we have a medium-long term challenge and that is to achieve higher growth for a more competitive country and an even more sustainable public finance".
“On the ground we need replacement mechanisms in case of inaction” as well as “something can be reviewed” on the “processes through which the State makes investments”.
PROPOSAL FOR A GOVERNANCE MODEL
"The challenges posed by the Recovery Fund are many, which is why it is necessary to equip the country with a functional and competent governance system, lean and with a clear allocation of responsibilities", underlined Dario Scannapieco.
THE ROLE THAT BEI COULD PLAY IN THE PNRR
For this reason, the Bei group “could support the Italian authorities for the creation of a fund of funds dedicated to SMEs in the industrial sectors, circular economy, social housing, sustainable tourism”. This is the proposal put forward by the Vice President of the European Investment Bank, Dario Scannapieco.
CREATION OF A FUND OF FUNDS
“Through financial intermediaries we could create a fund of funds structure”, explained Scannapieco stressing that the main advantages would be: delegation of the implementation to an experienced partner; consultancy services; tool calibrated to the needs of the country; speed of execution; leverage in the use of resources and revolving nature; selection, monitoring and reporting.
"It is a modality that we have used in the past in which the EIB would offer consulting services, they could be projects that are grounded quickly but would have the advantage of creating a leverage effect, then the funds from the Recovery fund would be used to activate additional resources. ”Concluded Scannapieco.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/come-migliorare-il-pnrr-di-conte-e-gualtieri-parola-del-draghiano-scannapieco-bei/ on Mon, 22 Feb 2021 10:58:12 +0000.