Maneuver, Salvini: «Banks screwed? Minimum contribution of 5 billion." The Abi: intervention not agreed upon

The back and forth and distance continues on the banks' contribution to the 2027 budget. To make things worse is the deputy prime minister and secretary of the Northern League Matteo Salvini, a supporter from the first hour of a contribution from banking institutions to the new revenues of the budget law. «The words of the president of the Abi Antonio Patuelli are surprising, even bringing up the Constitution - comments Savini - complaining that the bankers are economically "beaten up"". But the reply from Gianfranco Torriero, acting deputy general director of Abi, arrives quickly: «The intervention in the maneuver is absolutely not agreed upon, unlike what has happened in the last two years».

The numbers cited by the deputy prime minister

«The numbers, good for them, tell - continues Salvini - the exact opposite: 25.5 billion in profits in 2022, 40.6 in 2023, 46.5 in 2024 and 47.5 in 2025. And this year profits of over 50 billion euros are expected. Meanwhile, between 2022 and 2025, banks closed 2,510 branches and laid off 12,900 employees."

The tax rate

«Without forgetting - adds Salvini - that in 2025 their effective tax rate was 19.2%, a tax rate well lower than that of other companies. Gigantic profits that derive above all from the interests and commissions paid by citizens, families and businesses. Asking for a contribution of at least 5 billion euros to one of the richest and most protected sectors in Italy will be an intervention of absolute common sense."

The banks' response

"I repeat the statements of President Patuelli, the intervention in the budget is absolutely not agreed upon, unlike what has happened in the last two years", declared the deputy general director Abi Gianfranco Torriero, referring to the contribution requested from the banking sector in the budget, during the call on the association's monthly report.

The role in increasing revenue

«We remember that as banks we increased the revenue for the State, both with the budget law for 2025, with 4.5 billion, and then over 10.2 billion with the budget law for 2026 - explained Torriero -, and in particular for the 2026 budget law there was a commitment agreed with the government and with the parliamentary forces that represent it for a period of three years».