Italy’s Businessmen Fume At ‘Shameful’ Politicians

Prominent business leaders in Italy have expressed alarm and fury at the nation’s political gridlock; and have urged politicians to put aside their differences in order to form a grand coalition government that can deal with the nation’s immediate pressing issues.

“The real economy cannot wait for political machinations,” said Giorgio Squinzi, the usually mild-mannered head of Italian business lobby Confindustria, warning that the upcoming six months could essentially determine Italy’s fate.

Prominent business leaders in Italy have expressed alarm and fury at the nation’s political gridlock; and have urged politicians to put aside their differences in order to form a grand coalition government that can deal with the nation’s immediate pressing issues.

“The real economy cannot wait for political machinations,” said Giorgio Squinzi, the usually mild-mannered head of Italian business lobby Confindustria, warning that the upcoming six months could essentially determine Italy’s fate.

[quote]”The next six months will be terrible, the worst in 50 years,” he told La Repubblica daily. “Politicians have to create the conditions for growth. This is a last chance,” he warned.[/quote]

Italian businesses are already from a near two-year-long recession, and the political chaos caused by Monday’s inconclusive election result has created a deep sense of gloom within the country.

One of Italy’s most respected senior executives told the Financial Times on condition of anonymity: “I am mortified by the result. It has brought shame on Italy. We are suffering a complete collapse of faith in our institutions that is terrifying. We need rejuvenation.”

[quote]“I don’t see any winners in this election, just losers,” added Enrico Cucchiani, chief executive of Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest retail bank. “I think Italy altogether is losing because we are going to face a period of uncertainty; Italians are losing out because I doubt that we can see in the very short term the kind of structural reforms that are needed.”[/quote]

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Squinzi called for a “shock therapy” for Italy, urging tax cuts and immediate repayment of debts that the state owed to the private sector.

He also lambasted the anti-establishment Five Star Movement Party led by former comedian Beppe Grillo, claiming that their economic proposals would turn the country into one “made up of rustics and farmers.”

“If we applied Grillo’s programme, Italian industry would be finished,” Squinzi said, highlighting that Italy’s GDP has shrunk by 8.1 percent since 2007, while unemployment has risen to 3.2 million people.

Analysts warn that new elections may be required within months to resolve the impasse. Many businessmen however conceded that Grillo’s popularity at the polls, garnering a quarter of the national vote, had been a clear sign of anger towards the ruling class and the austerity measures meted out by Mario Monti’s technocratic government.

“We are facing reality and this change may also be useful for Europe,” said Marco Tronchetti Provera, chairman and chief executive of Pirelli, according to FT.

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“We’ve discovered there is a limit to the burden people will take . . . We have to balance the needs of the younger generation and the needs of employment with fiscal [austerity],” he said.

[quote]“What I think is the politicians should have understood there is a need for a change. Some politicians have to step back, some new faces have to come up. And we have to be very consistent knowing that nothing can be done if we are not together with Europe.”[/quote]