(Bloomberg) — Italy’s government plans to set aside additional funds to address surging energy costs this winter, said people familiar with the matter.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet discussed allocating a significant share of more than 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) saved from planned 2021 spending to shield consumers from soaring heating bills.
That would be on top of some 2 billion euros in the 2022 budget and another 800 million the government already decided to add, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions were not public. A final decision on the amount is expected in the coming days, the people said.
Italy, like other European countries, has been facing a surge in energy prices. The consulting company Nomisma estimates that gas bills could jump by about 50% in January without government intervention.
Italy previously allocated 1.2 billion euros in June and more than 3 billion in September to offset higher power prices.
The government led by Draghi, a former European Central Bank president, has also asked the European Union to study medium-term solutions to address soaring power bills. In a sign of the potential consequences if action isn’t sufficient, a recent price spike in the U.K. forced some industrial companies to cut production and seek state aid.
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