Maneuver 2023, Brothers of Italy and Bank of Italy clash. Palazzo Koch’s criticisms on taxation and tax evasion come from the mouth of Fabrizio Balassone, head of the economic structure service of the Bank of Italy, during the hearing in Parliament: ”The provisions on cash payments and the introduction of some institutions that reduce the tax burden for non-compliant taxpayers risk entering in contrast with the push towards the modernization of the country that animates the Pnrr and with the need to continue to reduce tax evasion“.
Words that sound like a real rejection for the Meloni government grappling with the budget law and make Giorgia Meloni’s ears ring. Someone sees us behind Mario Draghi’s hand. Among the ranks of Melonians, many turn up their noses. The alarm goes off at Palazzo Chigi: what to do, shall we respond? The prime minister prefers not to comment but leaves the reply to his right-hand man at Palazzo Chigi, the undersecretary for the implementation of the programme, Giovanbattista Fazzolari who cuts it short: ”Bankitalia expresses the vision of the banks”.
“I think – argues Fazzolari – that it is normal for everyone to say which aspects disappoint them during the budget law phase. Bankitalia is owned by private banks, it is an institution that has a vision, legitimately, and this vision makes it think it more appropriate that there is no longer any de facto use of cash. However, this is not the ECB’s vision”.
Fazzolari’s stance provokes a reaction from the opposition. ”Even Bankitalia rejects the rules on the Pos, the government removes them”, warns the Democratic Party. ”At Fazzolari there was something unprecedented from a political and institutional point of view”, ‘More Europe’. In the evening, government sources specified the meaning of Fazzolari’s speech: ”He has never questioned the autonomy of Bank of Italy’ ‘ and reiterates the “full appreciation for the work of via Nazionale. So no controversy.”
In rebuffing the criticisms of via Nazionale, Fratelli d’Italia remains alone for a while: the allies Lega and Fi make themselves heard in the late afternoon on Monday. Environment at 17.30 yesterday Federico Freni was the first to speak on behalf of the Carrocciowho with Adnkronos dwells on the issue of cash: “There are legitimately heterogeneous sensitivities on the relationship between cash and electronic payments, and there is sometimes the risk of confusing political direction and control prerogatives”.
Shortly before 6 pm, also on Monday, the words of the blue Antonio Tajani also arrive from Milan: the Foreign Minister and deputy premier, always within the limits of the Pos, breaks a spear in favor of Meloni: ”Bankitalia’s perplexity on the roof to cash is the hypothesis of a manager of the Bank of Italy made in a hearing in Parliament, an opinion like all the others; the maneuver is something else…”. Before Tajani, the other Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini made himself heard from Brussels without directly quoting via Nazionale: “I am for freedom: everyone must be free to pay what they want as he wishes, without being fined. So, if you want to pay for the coffee with the Pos, you pay it, if you want to pay it with the euro, you pay it, if you want to buy cigarettes in cash, you can do it”.
