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
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