Carlo Azeglio Ciampi he defended the independence of the Bank of Italy from attempts at political interference. This is the final message launched by the governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignatius Visco, during a conference organized in Via Nazionale in memory of the ex-president of the Republic, born in Livorno in 1920 and disappeared three years ago.
“Retrospectively considering his career – recalled the number one of the central institute – Ciampi himself observed:
'I have always served the country within the institutions: four years in the army-institution, two years in the school-institution, 47 years in the Bank of Italy institution, then the Palazzo Chigi institution, the Treasury, the Quirinale . In short, I firmly believe in the high value of institutions. They are the true anchor of the country.'
“They are – continued Visco – also because they embody and preside over that indispensable distinction of responsibilities that Ciampi made his own personally, first as central banker, strenuously defending autonomy from politics, after placing at the disposal of politics, of the art of governing in the highest sense, one's institutional culture, one's wisdom. Her inspiration continues to be an essential point of reference for the Bank of Italy in order to carry out the tasks entrusted to it with full conscience ”.
Visco then underlined that Ciampi “became governor of the Bank of Italy in a dramatic moment for the Institute and for the country. Fourteen years later he left to assume the Presidency of the Council in another passage fraught with risks for Italy. He was chosen in both cases for his talents. He had many, but probably the one that characterized him most was the profound conception of the civil and moral value of institutions".
To support him in his career in the Bank of Italy, "as well as in fulfilling the very high public offices to which he was subsequently called - concluded Visco - have certainly contributed 'sense of duty, respect for otherness, awareness of the responsibilities assumed, method , time and patience', ingredients Ciampi counts as the basis of learning and knowledge”.
