Italian businesses struggling to survive the coronavirus crisis need cash now. What they're getting instead is finger-pointing as the government and banks blame each other for the slow delivery of desperately needed economic relief.

Two months after the government promised to unlock as much as 740 billion euros ($800 billion) to mitigate the economic damage, just a fraction of that sum has been received by firms and families. Of some 300,000 companies that asked for emergency unemployment benefits for their workers, less than one in ten has received them. Just six larger companies had been granted a state-backed loan as of May 12, according to the Bank of Italy.

Deputy Finance Minister Antonio Misiani is leading the criticism of the country's banks, which are the main vehicle to deliver the government-backed support. He said some lenders are "unacceptably slow" due to too much bureaucracy and need to do more to get cash to borrowers more quickly.

"There are banks that provide loans in 72 hours, others that, because of their internal processes and multiple checks, take much longer," Misiani told Radio24 on Monday. "Is this a fault of the legislator? Taking responsibility is a duty for everyone."