The government has issued two new decrees to tackle the coronavirus emergency: one provides €400 billion in liquidity for businesses, the other addresses the end of the school year.
The Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described it as "a firepower." It is the measure, already nicknamed the businesses decree, that the Council of Ministers approved this evening, through which the government will provide immediate liquidity of €400 billion to businesses hit by the necessary closures to stop the coronavirus.
"Whether they are small, medium or large: €200 billion to finance the domestic market and another €200 billion to strengthen the export market," Conte said at a press conference: "I cannot recall such a powerful intervention in the history of our Republic in support of business financing — it is an enormous sum." The self-employed and VAT-registered individuals will also be able to access the funds.
Specifically, the businesses decree will make it possible to allocate up to €400 billion in the form of loans, with the State acting directly as guarantor for investors with banks for up to 90 per cent of the credit requested, so as to facilitate the provision of liquidity.
Another instrument adopted is the strengthening of the golden power — the government's ability to monitor and, where necessary, block corporate transactions and hostile takeovers, for stakes exceeding 10 per cent, by foreign companies seeking to exploit the economic difficulties of Italian businesses across all sectors: "insurance, credit, finance, water, health, security. It is an instrument that will allow us to intervene in cases where stakes of just over 10 per cent are acquired within the European Union."
The Council of Ministers also approved a decree on schools which, as the Minister of Education Lucia Azzolina explained, "will allow us to conclude the school year and carry us through to the next one." Two scenarios are envisaged for the final school-leaving exams: if it proves possible to return to school on 18 May, identified as the deadline, the exams will be held on 17 June with a written paper that is the same for all pupils, followed by a second paper to be set by the individual examination board "based on what pupils have actually covered in their preparation."
If, on the other hand, the lockdown were to continue, the exam will be held as a single oral test taken remotely. "No one will be left behind, but this will not be a political pass — the minister assured — insufficiencies can be made up in September." The decree also allocated €85 million for the development of distance learning.
