Gramegna presented the latest monthly update on the government’s 2020 budget in parliament on 19 October, showing that around €1bn in revenue was missing compared to last year.

“The covid-19 pandemic continues to negatively affect the public finances of our country, both for revenue and expenditure,” he said in a statement published after the meeting.

Around two thirds of the revenue budgeted for 2020 have been raised, below the 75% rate which should have been achieved at this point in the year. At the same time, 84.9% of spending foreseen for the whole of the year has already been dispensed.

Cancelling quarterly advances of income tax and delaying corporate taxes for businesses in financial trouble--part of the coronavirus rescue package--amounted to €228m at the end of September, up from €222m at the end of August.

At the same time, the government sped up VAT reimbursements, paying out €1.36bn by end of September, a 9.4% increase compared to the same period in 2019.

Spending was up by 30% between the third quarter of 2019 and 2020. This was due not only to the pandemic, however, but also to the acquisition of an A400M military plane, which was delivered last month.

The state budget--the so-called Administration centrale--ran a deficit of €2.75bn at the end of September. In the 2021 budget, the government is planning to reduce this deficit to €2.5bn, the finance minister said presenting the draft law in parliament on 14 October.