“Italian banks came out very well in assessing the solidity of their balance sheets: even the ex post assessments did not reveal any critical issues” and Mario Draghi himself, president of the ECB, “reiterated recently that in Europe, and therefore also in Italy, there is no need for capital increases". This was stated by Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan at the end of the Ecofin meeting.
As for other possible measures on the banking sector, "it should be clear that the Italian government - added Padoan - is strongly opposed to a certainly mechanical introduction of restrictions on the holding of government securities by banks".
The minister refers to an article in the Corriere della Sera of 4 February, according to which Germany and other member states are studying rules to limit, probably below a threshold of 25% of assets, the exposure of the banks of the Eurozone against its own country's government bonds.
Any questions on the choices on the composition of banks' portfolios, Padoan continued, "must be resolved at the level of the international Basel regulations or at a global level", while "any mechanistic constraint" introduced at the European level "would have negative consequences".
