By Andrew Davis
Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The Italian government plans next week to present an economic stimulus plan of 80 billion euros ($101 billion) in public and private spending on highways and other new infrastructure projects.
About half of the allocation will come from European Union funds that will be made available more quickly to spur environmental projects and research and development, Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti said today after the meeting of leaders of the G-20 nations in Washington.
The government will appropriate 12 billion euros for infrastructure spending and 4 billion euros will be raised from private investors, Tremonti said. ``The measures are in line with what other European countries are doing and are also in line with our budget,'' he said.
European governments are shoring up banking systems buffeted by a credit crisis that originated in U.S. mortgage finance. The region's leaders are also increasing spending to revive economic growth. The economy of the 15 nations sharing the euro slipped into recession in the third quarter.
Highway companies such as Atlantia SpA will have to link toll increases to more investment, Tremonti said. The plan should prompt more than 10 billion euros in additional highway construction and maintenance, he said.
Much of the new spending will qualify as ``one-off'' measures and be excluded from calculating Italy's budget deficit, Tremonti said. The deficit won't exceed the EU limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product next year, said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Davis in Washington at abdavis@bloomberg.net
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