Thirteen regions out of 21 pay the invoices before the deadline. Lazio, Liguria and Tuscany pay suppliers in less time and only Campania pays just over 30 days.
This is the map of the timeliness of public administration payments, drawn up by the Ethics Foundation on data from the MEF. In fact, the publication by the Ministry of the Economy of the data relating to commercial debts and the payment times of the Pa is precisely these days. Times, especially during the Covid emergency, have become crucial. But the numbers for 2019 speak of a clear improvement compared to the previous year: by law, in fact, payment to the supplier by the PA must take place within 30 days (60 for healthcare) from the date of receipt of the invoice. In 2019 there was a general reduction in days for 19 out of 21 Regions: only for Campania and Puglia is there a deterioration. And the 30-day figure is surpassed only by 3 Regions, all of the South: Basilicata and Molise, respectively with 88 and 99 days, and Campania which exceeds it by a little (34 days).
«It is a problem, however, that does not concern only the South - explains Paola Caporossi, director of the Ethical Foundation -, so much so that among the ten worst debtor municipalities we also find Alessandria. Turin is still carrying debt problems for the Olympics but certainly the situation is not comparable with the rest of the South. Even for the Municipalities the situation has improved despite the cuts in resources in recent times». The 3 Municipalities that are worst debtors belong 2 to Campania and 1 to Piedmont. Naples, in particular, proves to be not only the least punctual debtor among the provincial capitals, but also the only one that exceeds a year (almost 400 days). The penultimate in the standings is Alessandria, with 242 days, closely followed by Salerno, with 227.
A separate chapter should be devoted to how this so-called "timeliness indicator" is calculated by the MEF: it is in fact the "sum, for each invoice issued as consideration for a commercial transaction, of the actual days between the expiry date of the invoice or equivalent request for payment and the date of payment to suppliers multiplied by the amount due, compared to the sum of the amounts paid in the reference period".
