Italy must not waste an "historic opportunity" to turn around its stumbling economy with the 209 billion euros it is due to get from the EU recovery fund by 2023, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Friday.
"There are over 200 billion going which must be well spent and must serve to help the country - families, young people, the disabled, but also our businesses. Every single euro," Di Maio wrote on Facebook during a visit to Matera in southern Italy.
Italy's share of the 750 billion euro fund designed to help European nations whose economies have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic must be used to boost growth and create jobs, Di Maio underlined.
"These funds must become an historic opportunity for Italy. We must be good at using them, fully involving towns, cities and the regions," he said.
The 209 million euros the bloc has agreed to hand Italy are made up of cheap loans and grants borrowed by the bloc on international markets.
