Budget: Messina says the Government has failed to honour its commitments; a populist approach must be avoided
But the government is doing a good job with the accounts; there’s no risk to the spread
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - “We had reached an agreement last year for a three-year contribution from the banking sector, but the Government has failed to honour this agreement by deciding to impose an additional tax on the banking sector for one year – and probably two.” This was stated by Intesa Sanpaolo’s CEO, Carlo Messina, during the conference call to present the financial results as at 30 September. Messina pointed out that Intesa has already generated over 5 billion in taxes this year, of which 900 million is linked to the impact of the Budget Law approved in December 2025. “We should probably avoid a populist approach whereby taking measures against banks is seen as a way of winning votes,” he added, “because we need to consider the real contribution to the country’s fundamentals and how much tax is already being paid.” Messina emphasised that at present “it is difficult” to quantify the impact of the Budget Law currently being approved, given that we must “wait for the process to be completed”. Certainly, he added, “we are the only sector in the world” to face “double taxation” on so-called windfall profits, given that “we already had the agreed rate and now they are adding another one”. ‘It’s unbelievable,’ he continued, ‘and what I can tell you is that we will do our best to compensate for this and work on alternative plans based on costs and other items.’ Messina, on the other hand, reiterated that “the government, Giorgia Meloni and Giorgetti have done an excellent job”, given that “the country is in a good position and public debt is sustainable for the future”. For this reason, Messina predicts that “if there are any movements in the spreads, they will come more from France or the United States and will not be specific to Italia”.
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