ROME (Reuters) -Italy’s Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti met leaders of his co-ruling League party on Wednesday to discuss ways to garner money from banks to help fund expansionary measures in the government’s 2026 budget, a League statement said.
The move piles pressure on the banking sector, which has been criticised by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition for failing to reward depositors or offer better lending terms to firms, despite record profits driven by high interest rates.
The far-right League said banks and other financial entities posting dozens of billion euros in profits should provide “a greater contribution” to state finances to help the government support families and firms. No further details were given.
A package of government-imposed measures at the end of 2024 raised some 4 billion euros ($4.68 billion) from banks to help finance this year’s budget.
Tensions between Meloni’s government and Italy’s financial sector stem back to August 2023, when Rome triggered a sell-off in banking shares by announcing a shock 40% tax on income that lenders had pocketed from rising interest rates.
The government was later forced to backtrack, introducing an opt-out clause that meant the measure yielded no proceeds.
Various options are being discussed ahead of the 2026 budget, to be approved by the cabinet in mid-October, government officials have told Reuters.
Among these are a possible tightening of the terms allowing banks to use tax credits known as “deferred tax assets” to lower their tax bill, following the approach taken last year, or taxing share buyback programmes aimed at rewarding shareholders.
($1 = 0.8542 euros)
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)
