Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, was named Italian prime minister late Friday after persuading nearly all of the country’s squabbling parties to support his government, raising hopes that he can succeed where many others have failed: in leading Italy out of its deep economic malaise.
Italy’s head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, named also Mr. Draghi’s proposed ministers, a mix of politicians and technocrats, ahead of a formal swearing-in Saturday and a parliamentary vote of confidence early next week.
President Mattarella appointed Bank of Italy Director General Daniele Franco as finance minister, a role that will be crucial in deciding how the country will spend more than €200 billion, equivalent to $242 billion, in grants and cheap loans from the European Union to help its recovery and support overhauls. He appointed former Vodafone Group PLC Chief Executive Vittorio Colao as minister in charge of digital transition and technological innovation.
The president also confirmed Luigi Di Maio, a top politician of the 5 Star Movement, as foreign minister.
The new government will take over Italy, the EU’s third-biggest economy after Germany and France, at a time when it is fighting with persistently high Covid-19 contagion, an agonizingly slow vaccine rollout and restrictions on daily life that are holding the economy in recession.
