Italy Finance Minister Defends Bank Tax, Hedges on Paschi Timing

Italy’s finance minister Giancarlo Giorgetti defended the windfall tax on banks announced in August and urged not to rush the sale of Banca Monte Paschi di Siena SpA, an issue that’s stirring discord within his ruling coalition.

“The tax can be improved,” Giorgetti, one of the most powerful ministers in Giorgia Meloni’s government, said during the final speech of the annual Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, northern Italy. “It is fair, the state gives and the state takes back.”

On Monte Paschi, Giorgetti said that the government will address the sale “without anyone imposing a timing.” Foreign Minister Antonio ...