Italy’s Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti denied on Friday any plan to use gold reserves held by the country’s central bank to reduce the public debt.
A proposed amendment to the government’s 2026 budget stating that the gold belongs to “the Italian people” had raised concerns at the European Central Bank (ECB), which said it could undermine the Bank of Italy’s independence.
Speaking in Rome at the annual conference of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, Giorgetti said he had clarified to ECB chief Christine Lagarde that the amendment was just “a political principle.”
The minister confirmed he and Lagarde had resolved the issue on the sidelines of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels this week.
“The gold that is used as collateral for the currency belongs to the Italian people. Obviously, it is managed by the central bank. No one has ever proposed using it to reduce debt,” Giorgetti said.
“I simply made it clear directly to Lagarde that it was right for this political principle to be codified. She said she understood perfectly,” he added.
The Bank of Italy sits on the world’s third-largest national gold stockpile, behind those of the United States and Germany. Its 2,452 metric tons of gold are worth $300 billion, roughly 13% of Italy’s national output.
Giorgetti said the ruling coalition would probably present to parliament on Saturday a reworded amendment to take into account remarks by the ECB.
Senator Lucio Malan, one of the sponsors of the gold proposal that had upset the ECB, said on Friday the budget committee of the upper house of parliament was expected to approve the revised amendment on Sunday.