Giorgetti slams the banks, "Now they should help families."

The first results of these three years of government are beginning to show: the decline in the spread and the improvement in the rating demonstrate this, the positive effects of which have reached the banks. Now, however, they are called upon to translate these advantages into "concrete benefits" for families. This is the new "little pinch" with which Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti is once again prodding financial institutions.

This hint suggests—just on the eve of the official opening of the budget—the possibility of some ad hoc measures. Another suggestion comes from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini, who opens a new front after the one for a new home scrappage program. "First homes should be removed from the ISEE calculation," he says, explaining that "many bonuses don't reach middle-class families" because their ISEE isn't "low enough."

"We're working on it with Minister Giorgetti," explains the League leader, who had already spoken to the Minister of Economy and Finance in recent days about the scrapping of loans, assuring them that they could "deliver it." Indeed, there's no "contradiction" between the scrapping of loans and the reduction of personal income tax for the middle class, as Undersecretary of the Treasury, Federico Freni, also assures: one doesn't exclude the other, and in the budget "the resources will be found to do both, while respecting the public finances and, above all, the needs of citizens."

And if so far the path to the next budget seems clear, the new chapter is ushered in by the Minister of Economy's words at the Rimini Meeting. The government's approach over the past three years has been to build a house, starting from the foundations, "working diligently, responsibly, and even with humility," "one brick at a time," Giorgetti explains, also recalling the "imponderable" events that have occurred, from wars to tariffs, which weigh more on "expectations" than on exports.

But now the effects are "beginning to be seen," the "solid foundations": the narrowing of the spread and the rating increase (although, the minister notes, "the official rating still doesn't fully reflect how our country is actually perceived"), which have benefited everyone, including banks. The same banks that "every now and then I enjoy giving this little nudge," Giorgetti admits, adding, behind a smile, a hint: they are now "in more favorable conditions" and "all this must then translate into concrete benefits for families."

Two years ago, banks were implicated in the controversy over excessive profits; last year, the government tried again to demand "sacrifices," but ultimately the resources were allocated to capital strengthening. A few weeks ago, the League revived the issue, proposing "a voluntary and spontaneous contribution," an idea immediately nixed by Forza Italia. While we wait to see how the government will proceed, another issue the government seems intent on addressing is supplementary pensions.

It's a "very, very important" issue, says Giorgetti, who already has an idea: "It would be important for these supplementary pension funds, financed by workers' contributions, to look more closely at the Italian system than at foreign countries." To address the uniquely Italian problem of reconciling aging with a declining birth rate, the answer, according to INPS President Gabriele Fava, is to broaden participation in the workforce and welfare system, involving more young people and women, but also to offer the opportunity to "stay in work, rather than push people into early or forced retirement," as has been done with the Giorgetti Bonus.

The sustainability of the pension system, however, "is not in question today," Fava assures, explaining that the pension spending curve is "challenging but manageable." The budget will also include new measures to boost birth rates: "We don't need stopgap measures, but rather the implementation of a comprehensive plan," Freni says, assuring that "the next budget law will implement and strengthen" the process already underway.