ROME, March 11 (Reuters) – Parts of Italy’s post-pandemic national recovery plan will need to be updated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Industry Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Friday.
Giorgetti added that it would be “blatantly impossible” to reach some of the objectives outlined in the plan and that Rome needed to “flexible”, possibly considering extra borrowing.
“If the situation continues, the economic repercussions are such that we will have to consider (extra borrowing) to support companies and households in difficulty,” Giorgetti said in an online interview on the website of daily Il Messaggero.
Earlier this week Prime Minister Mario Draghi said that the country’s economic growth would be hit by the war, but that it was “premature” to consider asking the European Commission for changes to the plan.Â
Italy’s agriculture minister said on Thursday that the supply crisis caused by the war in Ukraine required a reorganization of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy and a waiver of state aid rules for the agrifood industry.
The war has created shortages of numerous agricultural commodities such as sunflower oil, fertilizers and grains including the durum wheat Italy uses to make pasta.
“The diversification of supply markets is possible to a large extent,” Stefano Patuanelli said in a report to the cabinet, adding that Italy could look to France and Germany for increased supplies of wheat.
