So much savings, few investments. This is, in extreme synthesis, the entirely Italian (and partly European) paradox denounced by Richard Colombani, secretary general of First CISL, during the round table “Savings and investments – Useful policies for the development of the country”, which was held on the second day of the First Cisl national congress.
In the face of a banking system increasingly concentrated,credit access for businesses it is down constant. “In 2011, direct credit to non-financial companies amounted to 995 billion euros, in 2024 we dropped to 665. The top five banking groups have reduced credit for 10 consecutive quarters,” Colombani explained. A figure that captures a broader problem: “Credit intermediation is unable to push savings into the real economy. Yet, it is only through savings that we can trigger the investment shock that our economy needs to grow at a sustained pace,” Colombani underlined.
They are not enough then the Bank mergers or market operations. A broader strategic plan is needed: a Fund to relaunch the real economy.
Concentrating banks is not enough, investments are needed
To overcome this impasse, a paradigm shift is needed, Colombani continues. Not one merger after another – the so-called “banking risk” – but a structured strategy that puts in contact saving e productive tissue. Colombani also recalled the words of the governor of the Bank of Italy, Fabio Panetta, in his Final Considerations: “The concentration of the banking system must create value for businesses and families. Creating value means providing financing in an adequate amount and cost to the real economy and having savings products that are effective, transparent and on fair terms”. But, to date, this mission still seems far away. “I don't think we can say that these conditions are met today”, Colombani stated.
Italian Stock Exchange Small, Europe in Trouble
Another hot topic: the small size of the Italian stock market, which penalizes companies' access to capital. "Borsa Italiana had a capitalization of just 907 billion at the end of March. The top seven American tech companies alone are worth about 15 thousand billion dollars," Colombani highlighted.
The result is a European capital flight to the United States and a growing reliance on American asset managers, such as BlackRock, which invests in Italian banks, but little in industry "since only 413 Italian companies are listed on Piazza Affari", specifies the secretary.
And the problem is not only Italian. Even theEurope suffers from a structural weakness. The Savings and Investment Union project is a positive sign, but it is not enough. “It must be completed with tailor-made tools, defined on a national basis, such as our Fund for the Real Economy,” concluded Colombani.
First Cisl's proposal: the National Fund for the Real Economy
A platform with public-private governance, which involves Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, banks e insurance. “These latter subjects are able to relate savings to the needs of the productive fabric,” explained Colombani.
Investors who decide to participate must be guaranteed certainties: "the protection of their savings, the full guarantee of the capital and, at the same time, time and amount limits defined to avoid any form of speculation".
