Italy is considering selling its stake in the postal service, which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni once declared the country’s “treasure,” to deal with its huge public debt, AFP news agency reported on Monday.
Meloni’s far-right government has set a goal of generating 20 billion euros ($21.6 billion) by 2026 through the sale of parts of Post-Italian.
Poste Italiane is known for its lucrative insurance and banking businesses, along with stakes in railway company Ferrovi dello Stato and energy giant Eni, making it a key focus of the government’s fiscal strategy.
But analysts said the sale of parts of the Post-Italian would mean Italy’s “mountain debt” would be increased by more than 2.8 trillion euros ($3 trillion), the second-highest share of gross domestic product in the euro zone. They argue that it does little to reduce debt.
“Our approach will be light years away from the past, when privatization rhymed with a gift to a lucky entrepreneur,” Meloni was quoted as saying by AFP news agency last week. Ta.
The leader of the post-fascist Italian Brothers’ party, which won the 2022 election as a populist and nationalist party, also vowed to maintain state control. “You can sell some of your shares in public companies without compromising public control,” Meloni said.
Meloni’s position is a shift from his public statements in 2018, when he opposed any privatization of the Italian Post Office. “No to the privatization of the Italian Post Office. It is a treasure that should be left in the hands of Italians,” she said on Facebook at the time, according to AFP news agency.
The government had originally planned to hold a majority stake in Post Italiane, 51%, but Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Friday that its stake could drop to 35%.
The Meloni government’s move is opposed by Italy’s opposition parties, including Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party.
“The government has always said it’s for the homeland, but today it’s starting to sell the homeland,” center-left Democratic Party lawmaker Andrea Orlando said on Sunday. “We believe that we cannot sell our homeland.”
According to the AFP news agency, the partial privatization effort is the government’s plan to sell a 25% stake in rescued financial institution Monte dei Paschi di Siena, known as the world’s oldest bank, for a total of 920 million euros. The decision began in November.
Roma had difficulty finding a suitable buyer for the bank, so it proceeded with the sale to an investor. The privatization of Monte dei Paschi di Siena is a requirement mandated by the bailout conditions established in the agreement with the European Commission.
Giorgia Meloni’s government has a long way to go to reduce debt, which stands at 140.2% of GDP. The government expects this ratio to fall to 139.6% in 2026 due to asset sales, but without it it would rise to 140.6%.
“These partial privatizations are just a drop in the ocean and do not reduce the risk of increased debt,” Nicola Nobile, Italy’s chief economist at Oxford Economics, told AFP. “They are not structural remedies and do not change the big picture.”