China News Service, March 19. According to the European Union News Agency, on March 18, local time, the Italian government cabinet approved measures to help consumers and businesses cope with soaring energy costs exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis. The decree It also includes strengthening Rome's powers to protect key assets from foreign bids.

　　According to reports, the joint meeting of the government's cabinet approved a 4.4 billion euro energy package to curb energy and fuel prices. Electricity and gas bills for businesses and homes.

The decree's energy section has set out a plan to cut excise taxes on petrol and diesel, which will cut petrol prices by 25 euro cents per litre by the end of April.

　　"We have taken important and positive steps to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine for our country," Mario Draghi, Italy's prime minister, told a news conference after the government's cabinet meeting.

The measures, funded by a tax on the extra profits of energy companies that benefit from soaring energy prices, will not worsen the public deficit.

　　Draghi said the tax took the form of a one-time 10% levy on profit margins that had risen sharply on an annual basis over the past six months.

This redistributive intervention in energy markets allows us to avoid additional borrowing and control public finances.

　　Government authorities have blocked foreign companies from entering Italy six times since Italy introduced the "Golden Power" in 2012.

The government also asked public agencies to replace Russia-linked antivirus software and said it was considering measures to block exports of raw materials to protect domestic industries from shortages.

　　To strengthen Rome's "golden power", the decree introduces a series of specific measures to monitor and block acquisitions and commercial agreements in 5G networks and cloud technology.

Companies operating in this 5G network and cloud technology will be required to provide authorities with fairly detailed annual notifications of proposed mergers and supply deals.

　　Italy’s economy will grow 6.6% in 2021, and last fall, Rome cut its fiscal deficit to 5.6% of GDP this year.

The Italian economy is now facing an increasingly weak growth outlook after a record contraction of 9.0% in 2020 due to the prolonged lockdown due to the new coronavirus outbreak.

The Treasury Department plans to cut its growth target for this year to below 4 percent from 4.7 percent last fall.

(Ying Yongfeng)