2017, the year of public investment boost

In recent years, in Tuscany public investments have decreased by 88 million Euros per year. The Stability Pact must certainly be counted among the reasons for this drop, as the constraints it imposes have proved particularly burdensome for local authorities. In fact, it caused not only a heavy scaling back of the investment projects already underway, but also the suspension of payments to firms that had already carried out the works. Down this path, the economic system has suffered various setbacks: from the loss of accumulated infrastructure capital to the ineffectiveness for production of the counter-cyclical buffer mechanism, all the more serious because of the ongoing economic crisis. Besides, in Tuscany, local administrations are traditionally more inclined to service provision expenditure rather than public capital accumulation. Consequently, the already low level of investments has been further penalized by the crisis.

T24 Economia di un territorio – Il sole 24 ore