Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Draghi Agrees to Take Over as Italy Premier, Names Ministers

Published 2021-02-12, 02:15 p/m
Updated 2021-02-12, 02:18 p/m
© Reuters.

© Reuters.

(Bloomberg) -- Mario Draghi agreed to take over as Italy’s next prime minister, naming his ministers as he prepares to head a new government that will prioritize the pandemic, a struggling economy and moving ahead with European integration.

Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, picked the Bank of Italy’s Daniele Franco as finance minister, and confirmed a Bloomberg News report that Roberto Cingolani, an executive at Leonardo SpA, would head a new ministry for ecological transition. He will be responsible for managing spending on green projects under the European Union’s recovery package.

Draghi reported back to President Sergio Mattarella Friday evening after two rounds of talks with political leaders. After securing broad support from all the country’s main parties except for the far-right Brothers of Italy, he told the head of state he was ready to form an administration.

This is a government “with a clear European and Atlantist profile,” said Francesco Clementi, a professor of comparative public law at Perugia University. “The ministers’ list shows a great awareness of the technical difficulty of governing in these difficult times, but also of the political perils that brings together very different parties.”

The former governor of the European Central Bank kept Luigi Di Maio as foreign minister, with the new administration set on carving out a bigger role for Italy alongside partners Angela Merkel of Germany and France’s Emmanuel Macron. Draghi has already told lawmakers he will push for a common euro-area budget, and Italy has taken up the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 nations.

On the new government’s agenda: a pandemic that’s claimed more than 90,000 lives in Italy, the worst recession since World War II, and a debt load at almost 160% of output. The cabinet, with several political appointees, reflects Draghi’s attempt to ensure support from rival forces.

Franco, director-general at the central bank, will play a key role in administering Italy’s 209 billion-euro share ($253 billion) of the EU’s recovery package, and in introducing measures to help families and businesses cope with the recession prompted by the pandemic and lockdowns.

Other key ministers include Giancarlo Giorgetti, minister for economic development. A veteran senior lawmaker with the League of Matteo Salvini, he has been pushing for the party to adopt a more pro-European stance.

(Updates with details of ministers from fourth paragraph)

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.