The measures needed to balance the budget are put off to the three-year period 2009-11. In the two years 2007-08 the ratio of primary current expenditure to GDP will remain constant at the highest levels recorded in recent decades. The key issue for the public finances in Italy is curbing primary current expenditure.
A public spending review, budget reform, and strengthening the mechanisms for making local authorities accountable are important ways of improving the use of resources in the public sector. Studies by the Ministry for the Economy and Finance show that there is ample scope for making savings without compromising the achievement of the main policy objectives.