Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said the government has done things that "seemed impossible" with its 2026 budget bill after the package was approved by the Senate on Tuesday following many rows and much wrangling, including within the coalition supporting Premier Giorgia Meloni's executive.
The bill, which features around 22 billion euros in new measures, including 3.5 billion added in a late government amendment, now moves to the Lower House for the definitive green light before the deadline of New Year's Eve.
"What I'd like to stress is that we've addressed issues that seemed almost impossible," Giorgetti told reporters in the Upper House.
"Taxing (collective) contractual (salary) increases by just 5% of was something the unions had always called for, and we did it for lower-income employees.
"I believe taxing productivity earnings at 1% is also symptomatic of the direction we need to go in.
