“It was an initiative I wanted. Of course I would do it again,” the prime minister said in a wide-ranging interview for Corriere della sera, La Repubblica and La Stampa newspapers.
“(Economy Minister Giancarlo) Giorgetti was fully involved,” she added.
“I have the greatest respect for the banking system and have no intention of hitting the banks – but there was an imbalance,” Meloni explained.
“The banking system was quick to raise mortgage rates, but left rates for savers unchanged, creating a distortion,” she continued.
Last Monday the government announced a new 40 per cent windfall tax on banks’ surplus profits, triggering stock market turmoil the following day.
The government subsequently performed a partial U-turn, saying the tax would be capped at 0.1 per cent of institutes’ assets.
However, skepticism remains, with Moody’s saying on Thursday that the measure is “credit negative” and the Financial Times on Saturday describing the move as “disastrous” and the government’s “biggest blunder so far”.
Deputy Prime Minister and interim leader of government coalition partner Forza Italia (FI), Antonio Tajani, has also criticised the move, saying it had not been discussed prior to the cabinet meeting at which it was approved.
“Things could have been done better, now we have to preserve our international credibility and reassure investors,” Tajani said in an interview with Il Foglio on Saturday.
“There may certainly be an issue of method,” Meloni said.
“I involved the majority to a lesser extent because, let’s say, the issue wasn’t to get out too far.
“This is a very particular and delicate matter on which I have taken the responsibility to intervene,” the prime minister added.
ANSA
