Italy plans Treasury shake-up with new department for state-owned firms -sources

ROME, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti plans to reorganise the ministry, creating a new unit at the Treasury department to manage state-owned firms and banking regulation in a project that he will take to cabinet next week, sources told Reuters.

Rome on Thursday appointed veteran economist Riccardo Barbieri as director general of the Treasury, replacing Alessandro Rivera in the influential position.

Under Giorgetti’s plan, the Treasury department would be split into two units, according to two political sources.

One of the units would mainly be devoted to macroeconomic policies and European and international relations, while the other would handle state-controlled firms, public assets and financial regulation.

This second unit is expected to have its own director general.

The plan requires time to be implemented and Barbieri will continue to lead the whole Treasury department under its current set-up in the meantime, one of the sources said.