The Italian Banking Association is open to collaboration with the Government on the next economic maneuver, but sets clear limits.
The ABI Executive Committee, which met on the evening of Monday 13 October, unanimously approved the report by director Marco Elio Rottigni, responsible for examining the dossier on the contribution of banks to the State Budget.
Maneuver, banks ready to contribute
In the note released at the end of the meeting, the ABI confirms its willingness to continue with the multi-year extraordinary contributions, “in the same logic agreed last year, for the relaunch of the economy and for social solidarity”. A formula that follows the 2024 agreement, when the institutions accepted a voluntary contribution, calibrated over several years, to support public finances without introducing new taxes.
So, summing up: bankers say yes to an agreed solidarity solution, the result of dialogue with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and say no to new taxes. The message coming from Palazzo Altieri is clear: the banks are ready to do their part, but they will not accept impositions from above by decree.
However, the political, but above all numerical, issue remains on the table. The League demands a revenue of 5 billion, to cover the measures announced in the Maneuver, while no figure emerges from the press release of the banking association. The ABI, at least for now, prefers not to comment on the quantum, limiting itself to reaffirming the principle of the extraordinary contribution, “in the same logic” as 2024.
Maneuver, fragile balances in the majority
The negotiation on the Budget Law with the banks is at the center of the Government’s concerns, committed to finding coverage for the 2026 Budget: Forza Italia, with Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, remains firm on no to any tax on extra bank profits. A line consistent with what happened in 2023, when the Meloni government, after internal tensions, transformed the tax on extra profits into a “voluntary” levy: it was enough to allocate the resources to capital reserves to avoid payment. Please remember that Tajani, leader of Forza Italia, has the delicate task of defending the demands of the Berlusconi family, linked to Banca Mediolanum, before the Government.
The ploy allowed the banks not to pay a single euro to the State, despite setting aside over 6 billion euros in their balance sheets. Now, the new scheme proposed by the government aims to bring those sums back to the surface, allowing institutions to distribute them as dividends, but in exchange for a tax reduced to 26%. The goal would be to collect around 3 billion, but the League is aiming for 5, asking for a greater effort from the credit institutions.
Government-Banks Negotiation
The negotiations between the Meloni Government and the ABI are still open and will continue in the next few hours (with a view to the Council of Ministers on 14 June) and days. The executive will have to decide whether to include the bank contribution in the budget planning document to be sent to Brussels or to postpone everything to the actual budget law.
The ABI, for its part, aims to avoid any measure perceived as “punitive”. Rottigni’s message, shared by the entire Abi board of directors, is an invitation to mutual responsibility: the banks are willing to contribute to the greater good of the State, as long as the pact remains in the field of concertation.
