The Italian parliament voted to pass the 2020 budget a week before 2019 comes to a close. The 2020 budget, which aims to maintain fiscal deficit at 2.2% of GDP for the third straight year, has now received approval from both houses of the Parliament and is ready to be enforced.

The budget was passed as a result of a confidence vote conducted in the Chamber of Deputies, a provision used to expedite the process of passing legislation without spending too much time on debate. According to the coalition government, one of the main aims of next year’s budget was to put off a proposed sales tax hike which was to be implemented at the starting of 2020.

While the sales tax hike worth 23 billion euros has successfully been cancelled, the government plans to maintain its budget deficit target by implementing hikes in value added taxes to the tune of 20.1 billion euros in 2021 and 27.1 billion euros in 2022.