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Italy's bakers demand govt. help amid high inflation, surging

Saturday, 26 November 2022 11:30 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 26 November 2022 11:30 PM ]

Max Civili

Press TV, Rome

Bakeries from around Italy have warned the government that their activities are at risk of shutting down if they don't receive financial help as soon as possible.

Trade associations and representatives of the bakery industry met the Enterprises and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso on Friday to demand subsidies and safeguard measures to tackle the dramatic rise in the cost of raw materials such as flour, diesel fuel, packaging and equipment.

Smaller family-owned bakery shops in Italy are slowly disappearing giving way to large supermarkets. A cost-of-living crisis, rising inflation and energy prices have badly affected many of around 26,000 bakeries, which employ about 100,000 workers across the country.

Power bills have doubled in Italy over the past months amid the energy crisis sparked by the Ukraine war. This is while the country's annual inflation rate was almost 12% in October, the highest level since March 1984.

Earlier this week, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced its draft 2023 budget bill, which includes measures aimed at channeling debt-financed 35 billion euros towards families and businesses in order to ease the burden of high inflation and power bills. Many fear these measures will do little to shield the Italians.

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