By Giuseppe Fonte
Italy has resolved differences with the European Central Bank (ECB) over a draft budget amendment on the ownership of the Bank of Italy’s gold reserves, Italian Treasury sources said on Thursday.
The ECB was not immediately available to comment.
Sponsored by members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing party, the proposal stating that the gold held by the Bank of Italy belongs to “the Italian people” had raised concerns from the ECB, which said it could undermine the Italian central bank’s independence.
Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti and ECB President Christine Lagarde resolved the issue on the sidelines of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels, the sources said.
The Bank of Italy, a public institution independent from the government, holds the world’s third-largest national gold stockpile, behind the United States and Germany. Its 2,452 metric tons of gold are worth some $300 billion, equivalent to roughly 13% of Italy’s national output.
Giorgetti reassured Lagarde that Rome had no plans to transfer the gold off the Bank of Italy’s balance sheet, the sources said, ruling out a move that would circumvent the prohibition on central banks financing the public sector.
Senator Lucio Malan, one of the amendment’s sponsors, said on Thursday the government was working on a rewording to take into account the concerns of the ECB.
In a letter sent to Lagarde ahead of their meeting, Giorgetti outlined the terms of the new amendment and said he had reworked it in agreement with the Bank of Italy.
“I am here to reassure you that the provision is intended to clarify in the domestic legislation that the holding and management of the Italian people’s gold reserves are the responsibility of the Bank of Italy in accordance with the rules of the treaties,” Giorgetti told Lagarde in the letter seen by Reuters.
EU rules state that the ECB, national central banks and their decision-making bodies should not seek or take instructions from any member state government.