Reflect on the messages launched by the Governor of the Bank of Italy and the President of Consob on the occasion of the traditional meetings annual reports. This is the intention of the event which UBI Banca has been organizing in Milan for about forty years and which this year too brought together entrepreneurs and the financial community. The meeting, which followed the recent reports of the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco and the President of Consob, Paolo Savona, was introduced by the President of the bank, Letizia Moratti, who wanted to emphasize the key issues touched upon in the speeches of the top management of the two financial institutions.
“I share the urgency of supporting growth and easing tensions on the financial markets. The economic growth of our country must be placed at the center of the Italian political agenda. And we must all contribute to this primary objective” said Letizia Moratti, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBI Banca. “In this sense, the high public debt-to-GDP ratio remains a constraint and a rigorous reduction strategy is needed in the medium term”. “Italy is also paying for a technological delay. 5 percent of total added value is today attributable to digital economy sectors against 8 in Germany and an average of 6,6 in the European Union, while the world has changed and will change again. In banking services, the number of traditional branches has certainly been reduced to cope with the cost reduction policy, but on the other hand, Fintech, Big data and the use of artificial intelligence techniques are developing”.
“As far as Europe is concerned” continued President Moratti “I am a staunch supporter of the European Union because we cannot abandon our will as supporters of the project and we must continue on a path of development and stability. Global markets present us with challenges that we could not meet on our own. Europe allows us to open up to wider markets, to enjoy greater support and facilitates cooperation in strategic fields. I would like to recall that Italian growth has not been weak due to the European Union or the euro because most of the member states have done better than us. The country has reacted late to technological change and the opening of markets globally. We need integrated financial, labor, goods and services markets with common rules and institutions and an authentic single European budget".
The introductory greeting by President Moratti was followed an analysis by Giuseppe Lusignani, Vice President of Prometeia and Professor of Economics of Financial Intermediaries at the University of Bologna and the director of Corriere della Sera, Luciano Fontana.
