Budgets

Italy, like France, has two budgets. When statesmen talk of prosperity, they point with pride to the surplus in the ordinary budget; when they complain of some untoward action on the part of another nation, they refer to the deficit in the extraordinary budget. Thus, despite the much-ado over Italy's financial recovery, budgets which balance, etc., the real position (as shown by the estimates for 1924-25) is, according to Ugo Ancona in the Giornale d'Italia:

Ordinary budget:

Revenue ...... 15,382,000,000 lire

Expenditures 13,206,000,000

Surplus 2,176,000,000

Extraordinary budget:

Expenditure 4,833,000,000 lire

Revenue 623,000,000

Deficit 4,210,000,000

Net Deficit ... 2,034,000,000 lire