Italy has spent 45% of EU COVID recovery cash secured so far, government says

ROME (Reuters) - Italy has spent around 45% of the 113.5 billion euros ($123.5 billion) it has secured so far from European Union COVID-19 recovery funds, short of a target set in 2022, the Italian government said on Monday.

Implementation of the plan is seen by investors and rating agencies as an important measure of Italy's ability to boost its sluggish economy and keep in check the country's creaking public finances.

European Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto told a press conference that, since 2021, Rome had spent 51.4 billion euros of the EU funds disbursed to support the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Such an amount is far below an original target set for the 2021-2023 period, which had already been revised downwards several times and then set at 61 billion euros in late 2022.

The press conference took place after a government meeting, during which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy had so far obtained 58.4% of the 194.4 billion euros it was entitled to between 2021 and 2026, the highest percentage of any EU country, according to remarks released by her office.

"We must therefore all remain extremely focused, and continue to play the team game that has allowed us to be number one in Europe so far in terms of goals achieved and financial progress," she told the meeting.

($1 = 0.9189 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Angelo Amante; Editing by Christina Fincher)