MILAN (Reuters) – Outgoing Italian Finance Minister Daniele Franco gave his blessing to the appointment of Giancarlo Giorgetti as his successor, saying in a newspaper interview on Friday they shared the same ideas of what Italy needed and would certainly do well.
Giorgetti, the outgoing industry minister in Mario Draghi’s government and the deputy leader of the right-wing League party, looks well placed to become economy minister in a new government led by rightist leader Giorgia Meloni.
Giorgetti is considered one of the League’s most moderate and pro-European figures. President Sergio Mattarella is expected to give Meloni a mandate to form Italy’s new government on Friday.
“We share the idea that Italy’s economic development depends on what happens in the production system, first and foremost in manufacturing and services, that these sectors are at the heart of our ability to create income and that they must therefore be at the centre of economic policy,” Franco told Corriere della Sera in an interview. “I believe he is very suitable (for the job).”
Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party took the most seats in the Sept. 25 general elections, meaning that she should get to head the new government.
But despite winning a convincing majority, behind-the-scenes negotiations to assemble a cabinet have proved more difficult than expected, with Forza Italia’s Silvio Berlusconi in particular furious over Meloni’s refusal to satisfy his demands over key posts.
In the interview, Franco also pointed to what happened with the UK government and urged caution, adding one needed to be careful and pragmatic when deciding to change deficit targets to not upset markets.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
