“We are extending the reduction of excise duties already in force, which would have expired on Easter Monday, until the first of May,” economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said following a meeting of the council of ministers.

He said the new decree-law – to which some €500 million would be allotted – also included a measure for agriculture businesses that would extend a 20% tax credit.

After May 1, “international geopolitical developments, which are clearly beyond our control, will determine whether other types of measures may be needed in response to a situation that is objectively very complex from every point of view, including the economic one,” he added.

Regarding the overall economic environment, Giorgetti said a discussion at the EU level over the 3% threshold under which member states must keep their deficit-to-GDP levels was “inevitable”.

In the wake of Covid and the war in Ukraine, the EU has allowed member states to temporarily exceed the deficit limit during “exceptional circumstances”.