ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s industry minister said on Monday that a cut in sales tax on baby products has not produced the expected fall in consumer prices and called for the country’s new inflation committee to hold an urgent meeting on the matter.
To help families cope with the surge in inflation and encourage people to have babies, from Jan. 1 Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government cut sales tax to 5% from 22% on items such as diapers, milk and car booster seats.
However, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said between January and March the price reduction was only 50% of what was expected, citing the outcome of a review by the public inflation watchdog.
Italian inflation rose in April to 8.8% year-on-year, driven by a fresh spike in energy prices. ‘Core’ inflation, net of fresh food and energy, was stable at 6.8% year-on-year.
Earlier this month Urso summoned a crisis meeting over the price of pasta, the country’s favourite staple, after it jumped by more than double the national inflation rate.
That was the first meeting of the new inflation committee, comprised of public authorities and consumer associations, set up by the government to monitor unusual price movements.
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Gavin Jones)
