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Italy set to extend containment as new stimulus under discussion

Italy will extend its drastic containment measures until the middle of April as the government weighs doubling or even tripling the amount of financial stimulus for the country’s paralyzed economy.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is set to prolong a near-total lockdown for two weeks beyond the current April 3 deadline, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported. Some minimal exceptions are being discussed for companies, the newspaper writes, adding that the return to normalcy will in any case happen only gradually. Education minister Lucia Azzolina has already said schools won’t reopen early next month as initially planned.

Italy is wrestling with the world’s deadliest outbreak even as the contagion shows initial signs of a slowdown after three weeks in which economic activity halted almost completely. The government is preparing a second round of stimulus after a 25 billion-euro ($28 billion) package approved this month, even as it’s locked in negotiations with European partners on further joint financial support.

Conte said in an interview published Saturday by Il Sole 24 Ore that new measures to be approved next month will bring Italy’s overall stimulus “well above the threshold of 50 billion euros.”

The prime minister had previously said the April package would be worth something more than 25 billion euros, but the amount — to be financed completely with the issuance of new debt — is set to be higher as the size of the recession becomes clearer. Confidence among Italian businesses crashed this month across all sectors, with Italy’s gross domestic product heading for a contraction of 6.5 percentage points in 2020, according to research group Prometeia. Electricity consumption continues to fall along with economic activity.

Deputy Finance Minister Laura Castelli said in an interview with La Stampa that Italy’s overall financial commitment could rise to as much as 100 billion euros, still well short of the 300 billion euros and 750 billion euros mobilized by France and Germany, respectively. The government’s April measures could be worth as much as 50 billion euros, double the size of the first round of stimulus, according to Il Messaggero.

Meanwhile, signs of social unrest and economic distress are on the rise in Italy’s poor southern regions.

A Lidl supermarket in Palermo, Sicily, was raided by people who refused to pay for their shopping, according to reports on several media. The police are now patrolling entrances to the city’s largest supermarkets.

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