5 Min Read
ROME (Reuters) - Mario Draghi has never shirked a challenge, from salvaging the reputation of Italy’s central bank to saving the euro. He is about to take on what may be an even tougher task.
FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister Mario Draghi poses for a picture after the new cabinet ministers swearing-in ceremony, at the Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome, Italy, February 13, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool//File Photo
Little over a year after leaving the presidency of the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, Draghi, 73, was asked by Italy’s head of state last week to resolve political chaos in Rome and form the country’s 67th post-war government.
Spain's public debt ended 2020 at 117.1% of gross domestic product as the coronavirus pandemic and the measures imposed to curb it lifted borrowing and led to a deep economic contraction, the Bank of Spain said on Wednesday.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds Factbox tag to headline, details on tax reform)
ROME, Feb 17 (Reuters) - New Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi unveiled his policy programme in his maiden speech to the upper house Senate on Wednesday ahead of a mandatory confirmation vote he is expected to win comfortably.
Following are some of the main policy pledges in key areas:
VACCINATIONS/HEALTH
Draghi said vaccines must be administered “in all available centres, public and private,” making use of the army, the civil protection agency and large numbers of volunteers.
More broadly, he pledged to reform the health system by strengthening local hospitals and grass-roots community health services. Technological progress also allowed a greater role for remote care of patients in their home, he said.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi called on Italians on Wednesday to pull together to help rebuild the country following the coronavirus pandemic and promised his new government would introduce sweeping reforms to revitalise the battered economy.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
JAKARTA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) , the country’s biggest lender by assets, plans to acquire two state financing firms and form a holding company, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Monday.
State-controlled BRI will launch a rights issue within about a year to enable the transfer of state pawnshop chain Pegadaian and micro lending firm Permodalan Nasional Madani (PNM), Sri Mulyani told a parliamentary hearing.
The government will maintain a small stake in the companies with a right to appoint their board of directors, she said.
The government currently controls a 56.75% stake in BRI, while Pegadaian and PNM are entirely state owned.