Mario Draghi submitted his resignation to Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday morning.
Roman:
Mario Draghi, credited with helping to save the eurozone as head of the European Central Bank, presided over a remarkable period of unification as prime minister of Italy before faulting the country’s notoriously unstable political system.
The star economist has never been directly elected but won the support of most political parties when he took office in February 2021 and elevated Italy’s standing on the international stage as is a respected leader in the European Union and the G7.
He has been tasked with fighting the coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of the recession in Europe’s third-largest economy as well as Italy being given a large part of the EU’s unprecedented billion-euro recovery package to promote growth.
Given the popularity and trust of Brussels and the financial markets, Draghi is seen as the best choice to revive a stagnant economy, hampered by structural inefficiencies and bureaucracy. bureaucracy is being punished, by carrying out long-delayed structural reforms due to infighting and inertia.
But with elections scheduled for next year, parties in his coalition have become increasingly resistant and Draghi’s stern warnings about stopping the political games have not been heeded.
Three parties in his coalition on Wednesday refused to participate in a confidence vote, making it difficult for the government.
Draghi handed his resignation letter to Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday morning.
Basketball and banking
Born in Rome on September 3, 1947 into a well-to-do family, Draghi lost both parents in his teens, leaving him in the care of two younger brothers.
In his youth, he was never a rebel, even as he sympathized with the 1968 protest movement. “My hair is quite long, but not very long,” he told the German magazine Die Zeit in 2015.
Draghi was educated at an elite Jesuit-run high school, where he excelled in math, Latin and basketball, and shared lessons with the likes of former Ferrari boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.
Draghi, who is married and has two children, remains Catholic.
In 1970, Draghi graduated with a degree in economics, with a thesis that the monetary unit “is a madness, a completely inappropriate thing to do” – a view that later developed, when he became a businessman. one of the strongest supporters of the euro.
He obtained his PhD from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States and taught economics at several Italian universities.
After six years at the World Bank from 1984 to 1990, he led the treasury department of the Italian Ministry of Economy for a decade, working under nine separate governments.
From that position, Draghi masterminded large-scale privatizations and contributed to efforts to cut the deficit that made Italy eligible to join the euro.
No ‘lame compromise’
In 2002, Draghi joined Goldman Sachs’ management, before being brought into the helm of the Bank of Italy three years after a scandal involving its former head, Antonio Fazio.
He was appointed head of the European Central Bank (ECB) in November 2011 when the near-bankrupt situation in Italy threatened to lead to the collapse of the entire eurozone.
A year later, Draghi changed history by pledging to do “whatever it takes to preserve the euro”, adding: “And believe me, that’s enough.”
He is credited with helping to save the common currency. That rescue, however, came only with help from massive cash injections and historically low interest rates – which angered conservatives, especially in Germany.
Those who have witnessed “Super Mario” at the ECB say that he is a skillful negotiator with sharp political antennas and is ready to play the role of “bad cop” to change decisions. in his favor, a former aide told AFP.
Draghi is someone who doesn’t accept “lame compromises” for the sake of maintaining consensus, the aide said.
After leaving the ECB in 2019, Draghi has fallen from grace and spent most of his time in coronavirus confinement in Italy in his country house in central Umbria.
He was summoned by President Sergio Mattarella to lead Italy, after the previous administration of Giuseppe Conte collapsed in fighting in January 2021.
He was supposed to succeed Mattarella in the presidential election in parliament earlier this year, but Mattarella was eventually called back to a second term after lawmakers failed to agree on anyone. other.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the syndication feed.)
