By Giuseppe Fonte and Valentina Za ROME (Reuters) – Italy is considering tightening a state guarantee scheme designed to help banks shed bad debts while weighing its extension to cushion the hit from the Ukraine war and the pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter. Since its 2016 launch, the ‘GACS’ scheme has helped Italian banks offload 96 billion euros ($103 billion) in bad debts by softening the hit from the disposals to their earnings. As of end-2021 investors held 11.6 billion euros in GACS-backed debt, Treasury data showed in April. The scheme in its current form expires on…