CERNOBBIO, Italy—Mario Monti, the technocrat drafted to save Italy from insolvency, on Sunday inched closer to signaling he would be open to remaining prime minister of the euro zone's third-largest economy after elections next year.
"Italians want governability," Mr. Monti said in a speech closing the Ambrosetti Workshop, an annual conference here on the shores of Lake Como that often sets the tone for autumn public debates in the country.
The idea that Mr. Monti, a former European commissioner, might remain at the helm after a new Parliament is elected next spring gathered momentum among the nation's business elite gathered here.
Enrico Cucchiani, chief executive of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Italy's largest lender, said it is "desirable, and highly probable" that Mr. Monti remain.
"Right now he's fixing the basement" so that Italy's public finances can eventually support a growth strategy, said Nani Beccalli, the Frankfurt-based chief executive of Europe for General Electric, said.
"Mr. Monti is a maniac for method and focuses on the priority task at hand. For Italy, that's been the fiscal issue so far, but the next one is growth."
A poll by ISPO polling agency published Sunday in the Corriere della Sera newspaper found that 37% of Italian voters hope the country has a "technical" government after next April's general election.
While 46% want to see a classic "political" government, that pool of voters is split among the country's right, left and center political forces.
The vote is unlikely to produce a clear majority party, a monthly public-opinion survey published Friday by the SWG polling agency showed. Italy's politicians are in an awkward position.
They are under pressure to express support for Mr. Monti's unpopular pension, labor and tax measures—all demanded by the European Union and European Central Bank—while at the same time preparing electoral campaigns.
"We applaud Monti, but elections are the salt of democracy and they entail that who wins, rules," said Angelino Alfano, head of the People of Freedom party founded by Silvio Berlusconi, whom Mr. Monti replaced as prime minister late last year, when Italy's government borrowing costs were soaring to alarming levels. "You have to be on a ballot."
Mr. Monti, whose effectiveness hinges on being above the fray of party factions, steered clear of any explicit indication that he would remain in politics.
His speech referred to "politics resuming their course" and was full of advice to his eventual successor—including his observation that "a large part of government in Italy actually takes place in Europe."
Still, he made a point of saying that "politicians are actually better than I expected" and heaped praise on the broad bipartisan spectrum of deputies supporting his cabinet.
He singled out the centrist UDC party, a smaller revival of the former powerful Italian Christian Democrat movement that has explicitly endorsed another term for Mr. Monti.
While many of the business elite here say a second term for Mr. Monti would serve as a guarantee that Italy will undertake tough initiatives, some also say the fact that many of the country's economic measures are dictated by the EU or the ECB offers similar protection.
"Italy should ask for help from the new program announced by ECB President Mario Draghi, and do so quickly. That would be a pledge that the next government will have its hands tied," Gianluca Garbi, head of Banca Sistema, a small bank specializing in public-sector financing, said.
He was referring to the possibility of euro-zone nations asking for European help in bringing down their borrowing costs—a plan laid out by Mr. Draghi late last week. In private, many senior Italian bankers here agreed with Mr. Garbi.
Still, other business leaders—mainly of small and midsize industrial companies that make up much of Italy's corporate sector—said they were more concerned about the consequences of a loss of sovereignty that European help would entail.
The spread, or interest-rate gap, between sovereign 10-year borrowing costs for Italy and Germany declined to 3.5 percentage points from 4.5 at the end of last week—largely because of Mr. Draghi's words.
Italy should seek to keep that momentum going by asking for help, which requires accepting conditions on fiscal and other policy going forward, said Mr. Garbi, who worked for Mr. Draghi at the Italian Treasury in the 1990s.
"We're talking 10-year yields here and people don't have any clue as to where Italy will be in 12 months," he said. "We don't technically need to ask today but that's why we should do so today."
Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli reiterated on Sunday the government's position that Italy has no need to apply for the new euro-zone aid program today.
wsj.com
"Italians want governability," Mr. Monti said in a speech closing the Ambrosetti Workshop, an annual conference here on the shores of Lake Como that often sets the tone for autumn public debates in the country.
The idea that Mr. Monti, a former European commissioner, might remain at the helm after a new Parliament is elected next spring gathered momentum among the nation's business elite gathered here.
Enrico Cucchiani, chief executive of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Italy's largest lender, said it is "desirable, and highly probable" that Mr. Monti remain.
"Right now he's fixing the basement" so that Italy's public finances can eventually support a growth strategy, said Nani Beccalli, the Frankfurt-based chief executive of Europe for General Electric, said.
"Mr. Monti is a maniac for method and focuses on the priority task at hand. For Italy, that's been the fiscal issue so far, but the next one is growth."
A poll by ISPO polling agency published Sunday in the Corriere della Sera newspaper found that 37% of Italian voters hope the country has a "technical" government after next April's general election.
While 46% want to see a classic "political" government, that pool of voters is split among the country's right, left and center political forces.
The vote is unlikely to produce a clear majority party, a monthly public-opinion survey published Friday by the SWG polling agency showed. Italy's politicians are in an awkward position.
They are under pressure to express support for Mr. Monti's unpopular pension, labor and tax measures—all demanded by the European Union and European Central Bank—while at the same time preparing electoral campaigns.
"We applaud Monti, but elections are the salt of democracy and they entail that who wins, rules," said Angelino Alfano, head of the People of Freedom party founded by Silvio Berlusconi, whom Mr. Monti replaced as prime minister late last year, when Italy's government borrowing costs were soaring to alarming levels. "You have to be on a ballot."
Mr. Monti, whose effectiveness hinges on being above the fray of party factions, steered clear of any explicit indication that he would remain in politics.
His speech referred to "politics resuming their course" and was full of advice to his eventual successor—including his observation that "a large part of government in Italy actually takes place in Europe."
Still, he made a point of saying that "politicians are actually better than I expected" and heaped praise on the broad bipartisan spectrum of deputies supporting his cabinet.
He singled out the centrist UDC party, a smaller revival of the former powerful Italian Christian Democrat movement that has explicitly endorsed another term for Mr. Monti.
While many of the business elite here say a second term for Mr. Monti would serve as a guarantee that Italy will undertake tough initiatives, some also say the fact that many of the country's economic measures are dictated by the EU or the ECB offers similar protection.
"Italy should ask for help from the new program announced by ECB President Mario Draghi, and do so quickly. That would be a pledge that the next government will have its hands tied," Gianluca Garbi, head of Banca Sistema, a small bank specializing in public-sector financing, said.
He was referring to the possibility of euro-zone nations asking for European help in bringing down their borrowing costs—a plan laid out by Mr. Draghi late last week. In private, many senior Italian bankers here agreed with Mr. Garbi.
Still, other business leaders—mainly of small and midsize industrial companies that make up much of Italy's corporate sector—said they were more concerned about the consequences of a loss of sovereignty that European help would entail.
The spread, or interest-rate gap, between sovereign 10-year borrowing costs for Italy and Germany declined to 3.5 percentage points from 4.5 at the end of last week—largely because of Mr. Draghi's words.
Italy should seek to keep that momentum going by asking for help, which requires accepting conditions on fiscal and other policy going forward, said Mr. Garbi, who worked for Mr. Draghi at the Italian Treasury in the 1990s.
"We're talking 10-year yields here and people don't have any clue as to where Italy will be in 12 months," he said. "We don't technically need to ask today but that's why we should do so today."
Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli reiterated on Sunday the government's position that Italy has no need to apply for the new euro-zone aid program today.
wsj.com
No comments:
Post a Comment