Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena should delay plans to raise 2.5 billion euros in capital, Giorgia Meloni’s chief economic adviser has recommended.
“We have to postpone the decision on the capital increase,” Maurizio Leo, who coordinates the economics and finance department of Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, told Bloomberg in an interview. “The time is difficult and it is better to wait for the new government.
Monte dei Paschi, the world’s oldest bank, received a €5.4bn bailout from the Italian government in 2017. It is now looking to cut around 4,000 jobs in a bid to boost capital reserves and profitability. Rome, which now has a stake of about 64 percent in the bank, said it was ready to inject more money as part of a planned capital increase.
Meloni’s party is currently in first place, expected to receive 25 percent of the vote in the general election scheduled for Sept. 25, ahead of the left-wing Democratic Party, which received 22 percent.
“Paschi’s is an important operation that must protect both jobs and a strategic asset for the Italian economy,” Leo said.
Link to the source