A few weeks ago, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini suggested that the government could use use country’s gold to plug budget holes.
“It’s not an issue that I am following, but it could be an interesting idea,” Salvini told reporters after being asked about the possibility of tapping gold reserves.
Bank of Italy’s Governor Ignazio Visco said on Monday the country’s reserves of gold belonged to the central bank and could not be used to fund government spending.
“Bank of Italy’s golden reserves amount to between 80 and 90 billion euros... less than 10 percent of its total assets,” he said during a panel discussion.
“Like the rest of its assets, it cannot be used for monetary financing by the Treasury. These things are not hard to understand,” he added.
Original source: Reuters
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