ROME (AP) — Italy’s opposition parties are warning Italians they’ll pay eventually for the populist government’s 2019 budget.
The spending plan received final legislative approval Sunday, a day after Premier Giuseppe Conte’s government won a confidence vote tied to it in the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate approved the budget earlier this month.
It includes funding for two expensive campaign pledges by the partners in Italy’s coalition government, the 5-Star Movement and the League: a minimum income for job-seekers and pension reform rollbacks.
Far-right leader Georgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy party called the budget “smoke in the eyes” of voters ahead of European Parliament elections next year.
Meloni said the government’s largesse in 2019 could lead to higher sales taxes in the following three years to generate revenue.
The Italian government trimmed its original budget plan to address European Union objections.
