Spirit of Big Government Returns to Virus-Battered Italy
- Premier intervenes in private firms seeking to reboot economy
- Targets range from telecoms to stock exchange, highways
Giuseppe Conte
Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Almost three decades after Italy started privatizing many of its biggest industrial assets, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is strong-arming companies across the country.
The premier is seeking to restart an economy mangled by the coronavirus pandemic and in the process is pushing to toughen vetoes on foreign investments and even in some cases nationalize business with a war chest of 209 billion euros ($250 billion) in European Union loans and grants and another 100 billion euros of extra Italian borrowing.