Carlo Messina, Chief Executive Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo, has openly criticized the Italian government’s plans to increase taxes on banks and insurers in order to help fund the upcoming 2027 budget. Speaking at an event in Rome, Messina argued that other economic sectors should step up to help ease the burden of high energy costs for households and businesses rather than placing the entire weight on financial institutions.
According to Messina, the financial sector had already reached an agreement last year with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration regarding a three-year contribution to state finances. He suggested that the government was now altering the terms of that established arrangement. He noted that while the financial sector initially proposed a one-year contribution, government officials insisted on a three-year commitment to provide stability for both the state budget and the banking industry.
The Italian government’s broader fiscal strategy involves raising an additional €10.7 billion, equivalent to approximately $12.0 billion, from banks, insurers, and other financial institutions over the period spanning 2027 to 2029. This new target comes on top of an extra €12 billion that the government has already stated it will raise through a separate package of measures included in the current year’s budget.
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has defended the higher taxation measures by pointing out that the financial sector enjoys limited competition. Furthermore, Giorgetti noted that financial institutions have benefited from European Central Bank interest rate hikes as well as state guarantees on loans issued by previous governments during the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pushing back against the government’s approach, Messina maintained that a balanced approach is necessary during difficult economic times. He emphasized that the financial sector should not be singled out to exclusively bear the fiscal cost, stating that no single sector should have to pay the price alone.
