4 September 2007

Cutting Public Expenditure

I'm publishing an interview with la Repubblica that appears on the front page:

ADP: “Last year my Ministry reduced current spending more than tenfold, excluding personnel costs. Having said that I welcome anyone who can help me find a solution for making further improvements.”

Repubblica: And yet your Ministry is among those that could be asked to make further sacrifices.
ADP: “I am available to the Minister of the Economy, but I would like to remind readers that since I took on this position I have reduced all the external consultancies, and there were so many of them, and I brought the work in-house. I found whole packets of studies on “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”, many of which I haven’t even paid or I sent them to the Court of Accounts. There was also a nucleus of people, the so-called extraordinary commissioners, that I sent home. One had been appointed for each job named in the framework law, a folly. Then I’ll give you another example: the Ministry paid 23 euro a month for each employee for email. Today it’s free.”

Repubblica: So it’s up to the other ministries to make cuts?
ADP: “As I have already explained I am willing to cooperate. Having said this I think that the government should give a good example on three fundamental issues: It is necessary to cut current spending and stop spending that is out of control; eliminate waste and favouritism connected to politics starting with Parliament and ending up with the local authorities and I would abolish even the Provinces and the Mountain communities; finally I would make the bureaucracy more efficient by eliminating useless procedures. To be clear: after my signature an ministerial document “needs” another 42 signatures. What’s the point? These are the three steps needed to get credibility back. Once this has been done, the struggle goes on against tax dodgers but explaining to citizens that if they don’t pay taxes they go to prison. And every euro recovered from tax dodging must go to reducing taxes.”

Repubblica: So you are in agreement with Veltroni who is asking for a reduction in the tax burden starting with this year?
ADP: “I say that if this year we recover 3,000,000,000 in taxes that have been dodged, every euro recovered must go to the reduction of taxes. Cutting expenditure and reducing taxes must go hand in hand because they are two sides of the same coin, but above all they can’t wait another minute.”

Repubblica: Do you fear that there will be cuts to the investments that your Ministry is planning?
ADP: “When I arrived I found 270,000,000,000 euro for investment set out in the framework law. But that was money that was approved, in reality there wasn’t a lira. I have done a spending programme for 5 to 6 thousand million a year. This is the amount I have asked for. However, be careful not to cut spending on investment in Infrastructure because this is money that is looking to the future, they mean earnings, not losses.”

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Economy