docks are seen during sunset at the industrial port of marghera in the lagoon of venice northern italy january 6 2017 reutersmanuel silvestri milan sept 1 reuters  italy must respond to an economic earthquake from rising energy costs the head of the countrys business lobby said on thursday adding that companies could not afford to wait for a new government before getting more help confindustria boss carlo bonomi demanded a cap on the price of gas if not a european level then at a national one in an interview with italys rtl 1025 radio what we are facing is an economic earthquake bonomi said adding that energy costs in italy were among the highest in europe we cant wait for two months the time it is expected to take until we have a new government jeopardising the italian industrial system the income and the jobs of italian families he added italy will hold a national election on sept 25 with the administration led by prime minister mario draghi still in office and tasked with dealing with pressing current issues the italian government has set aside more than 50 billion euros 50 billion this year to try to soften the hit of higher energy costs for firms and households read more business lobby confcommercio warned on wednesday that about 120000 italian service sector firms could go out of business over the next ten months due to surging energy costs with 370000 job losses read more 1  09979 euros