Italy’s Draghi says govt ready to do more to curb energy prices

ROME (Reuters) -Italy’s government is ready to set aside further resources to curb increases in energy prices for households, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Tuesday.

As international energy costs soared, Rome allocated more than 4 billion euros ($4.54 billion) to try to rein in the impact on family utility bills in the second half of this year, by compensating power companies that cap their tariffs.

The 2022 budget, presented to parliament last month, earmarked further 2 billion euros to soften energy prices in the first quarter of next year.

“We intervened in the budget and we are ready to continue doing so,” Draghi said at an energy conference in Rome, referring to the government’s steps to limit energy price hikes and to support lower income households.

Industry Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, speaking at another conference on Tuesday, urged European Union states to agree on a shared plan to tackle the issue and avoid the risk of blackouts, which he said could not be ruled out at the moment.

Giorgetti’s spokeswoman clarified that he was not referring specifically to Italy.

($1 = 0.8809 euros)

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti and Giuseppe Fonte; editing by Agnieszka Flak and Gavin Jones)