The rescue of Banca Popolare di Bari arrives: the government approves a decree that allocates 900 million to Invitalia to finance the Central Microcredit and allow it to acquire shares of the bank. Among the objectives is the creation of an investment bank, which would be born from the 'split' of the acquisitions made by Mediocredito Centrale: the commitment is to support businesses in the South. “The government stands by savers and bank employees,” declared Minister Roberto Gualtieri. In the next few days, the terms of the industrial plan for the relaunch will be defined by the bank's commissioners, Mediocredito Centrale and Fondo mcc and the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund (Fitd), which will intervene with its resources. The white smoke comes after two days of clashes and tensions within the government. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte reconvenes the ministers to approve the decree that had been blocked by Matteo Renzi and Luigi Di Maio on Friday night. The “economic fabric” of the city and the Region is at risk, warns the mayor of the Apulian capital, Antonio Decaro. While the governor Michele Emiliano says he is ready to intervene in the operation with resources from the Region. According to some sources, of the 900 million allocated for 2020 by the government (from resources of the Ministry of Economy), Popolare di Bari could need 500 and another 400 could be used to strengthen other banks in the South or support companies such as Ilva (for which the executive imagines an intervention by Invitalia). But for now these are just hypotheses. The government's urgency - underlined by Conte and the Democratic ministers - is to pass the decree before the reopening of the stock exchanges and counters, on Monday morning, also to protect the bank from liquidity risks. “We must give the signal that the State is there”, they say from the Democratic Party. Roberto Speranza, for Leu, calls for "making responsibility prevail towards the credit system of the South rather than small political cabotage". Moreover, both M5S and IV admit that there are no alternatives to voting yes before the meeting begins. But the tone of the political debate remains high: the tension in the majority does not diminish. The meeting lasted ninety minutes: Conte, who assured that no discounts would be made to those responsible, made a long introduction in which he illustrated the measure and presented a report of all the inspection activities from 2010 to today that have been carried out by the Bank of Italy as part of its supervisory functions on the Banca Popolare di Bari. He adds that he will ask to be updated on the liability actions (they are up to the Bank and the judiciary, not the government). Di Maio asks for more: that the Bank of Italy report be published, as well as the list of major debtors, even if this last request – some government sources explain – is unlikely to be granted. “No mercy for friends of friends,” says the M5S leader who also urges the start of the commission of inquiry into the banks with the election of the president, scheduled for this week. The other parties agree on this. Italia Viva goes further: Minister Teresa Bellanova announces that Iv will try to change the text in Parliament and contests the title of the decree which only speaks of the creation of an investment bank. The Renzians would like to insert the word “rescue” of the bank. After a long discussion, the title changes, but not as Iv requests: “Urgent measures to support the credit system of the South and for the creation of an investment bank”, we read at the end. Renzians and M5s promise to continue to push. And they argue among themselves: Renzi asks Di Maio to make amends and apologize for having attacked him in the past on the banks, Di Maio responds by bringing up Banca Etruria. In the background, there are tensions and suspicions creeping into the majority. In the evening, Matteo Salvini asked Conte to convene a “national salvation committee” that would rewrite the rules of the game and then lead to elections. Some in the government fear that the proposal, which has so far received a cold reaction from the majority, is a move aimed at ousting the current prime minister, capitalizing on discontent within the IV and M5S parties, and perhaps leading, as Giancarlo Giorgetti has suggested, to a national unity government.
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