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Italy’s Populist Government Wants to Take Over a Troubled Bank, Salvini Says

Italy’s Populist Government Wants to Take Over a Troubled Bank, Salvini Says

(Bloomberg) -- Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini threw a new twist into the Banca Carige SpA saga, saying the government’s goal is to bring the struggling lender under state control.

“I am sure that Europe will allow Italy to do what is good for Italians, that is to bring it under state control,” Salvini told reporters at a press conference in Warsaw on Wednesday. “If there are profits, the state will receive them, not some private bodies.”

The comments mark a sharp break from the views expressed by Genoa-based Carige’s administrators. The government decree on support for the bank includes the option of a precautionary recapitalization.

The European Commission would have to sign off on any use of public funds to rescue the lender.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ross Larsen in Rome at rlarsen2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Kevin Costelloe, Ross Larsen

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