Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, banker, statesman, and civil servant, who served as the
prime minister of Italy
The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...
from 13 February 2021 to 22 October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as the
president of the European Central Bank (ECB) between 2011 and 2019. Draghi was also the chair of the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) ...
between 2009 and 2011, and
governor of the Bank of Italy
The Governor of the Bank of Italy is the most senior position in the Bank of Italy. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming his or her successor.
List of Governors
...
between 2006 and 2011.
After a lengthy career as an academic economist in Italy, Draghi worked for the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
in Washington, D.C., throughout the 1980s, and in 1991 returned to
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
to become
director general of the Italian Treasury. He left that role after a decade to join
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
, where he remained until his appointment as governor of the Bank of Italy in 2006. His tenure as Governor coincided with the
2008 Great Recession, and in the midst of this he was selected to become the first chair of the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) ...
, the global standard-setter that replaced the
Financial Stability Forum.
He left those roles after his nomination by the
European Council
The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...
in 2011 to serve as president of the ECB. He presided over the institution during the
Eurozone crisis, becoming famous throughout Europe for saying that he would be prepared to do "whatever it takes" to prevent the
euro
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
from failing. In 2014, Draghi was listed by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' as the eighth-most powerful person in the world. In 2015, ''
Fortune'' magazine ranked him as the world's "second greatest leader". He is also the only Italian to be listed three times in the ''
Time 100
''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...
'' annual
listicle. In 2019,
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He ...
described him as "the greatest
central bank
A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...
er of modern times." Moreover, thanks to his monetary policies, he is widely considered the "saviour of the euro" during the
European debt crisis
The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The e ...
. He has been nicknamed ''
Super Mario'' by some media, a nickname that was popularised during his time as president of the ECB, when he was credited by numerous sources as having played a key role in combatting the
Eurozone crisis.
After Draghi's term as ECB President ended in 2019, he initially returned to private life. On 3 February 2021, in the midst of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...
, Draghi was invited by President
Sergio Mattarella
Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...
to form a
government of national unity (
Draghi Cabinet), following
the resignation of
Giuseppe Conte
Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...
. After successful negotiations with parties including the
League (Lega - Salvini Premier), the
Five Star Movement (M5S), the
Democratic Party (PD), and (FI), Draghi was sworn in as prime minister on 11 February, pledging to oversee effective implementation of COVID-19 economic stimulus. Draghi has been rated highly in public opinion polls in Italy during his time as prime minister; at the end of his first year in office ''
Politico Europe
''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...
'' ranked him as the most powerful person in Europe and ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' named Italy as "Country of the Year", singling out Draghi's leadership as central to its nomination.
On 14 July 2022, the M5S revoked support to Draghi's coalition government regarding a
decree
A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...
concerning economic stimulus to offset the energy crisis. On the same day, despite having largely won the
confidence vote, Draghi announced his resignation as prime minister, which was rejected by President Mattarella. On 21 July, Draghi resigned for a second time following the failure of the confidence vote to pass with an
absolute majority due to the withdrawals of M5S, Lega, and FI. On the same day, President Mattarella accepted the resignation and Draghi remained in office as caretaker prime minister. He was succeeded by
Giorgia Meloni
Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies since 2006, s ...
on 22 October 2022.
Early life and education
Mario Draghi was born in
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 1947 to an upper-class family; his father Carlo, who was born in
Padua
Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...
, Veneto, first joined the
Bank of Italy
The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...
in 1922, and later worked for the
Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI) and for the
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro; while his mother, Gilda Mancini, who was born in
Monteverde, Campania, near
Avellino, was a pharmacist. He is the eldest of three children including Andreina, an
art historian, and Marcello, an entrepreneur. When he was 15 years old, his father died; at 19, his mother died.
Draghi studied at the
Massimiliano Massimo Institute, a
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
school in Rome, where he was a classmate of the future chairman of
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
,
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the future prefect and civil servant
Gianni De Gennaro and the future television presenter
Giancarlo Magalli. In 1970, he graduated with honours in economics at the
Sapienza University of Rome
The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...
, under the supervision of Keynesian economist
Federico Caffè; his graduation
dissertation was titled "
Economic integration
Economic integration is the unification of economic policies between different states, through the partial or full abolition of tariff and Non-tariff barriers to trade, non-tariff restrictions on trade.
The trade-stimulation effects intended by ...
and the variation of
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
s". In his dissertation, Draghi was particularly critical of Luxembourg Prime Minister
Pierre Werner's remarks that
European monetary union was "premature". Draghi went on to earn a PhD in economics from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
in 1977, this time with a dissertation titled "Essays on economic theory and applications", under the supervision of
Franco Modigliani
Franco Modigliani (; ; 18 June 1918 – 25 September 2003) was an Italian-American economist and the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He was a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Carnegie Mellon Uni ...
and
Robert Solow
Robert Merton Solow, GCIH (; August 23, 1924 – December 21, 2023) was an American economist who received the 1987 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, and whose work on the theory of economic growth culminated in the exogenous growth ...
.
Professor and civil servant
From 1975 to 1981, Draghi was first professor of economic and financial policy at the
University of Trento, then of
macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output (econ ...
at the
University of Padua
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
, and later of
mathematical economics
Mathematical economics is the application of Mathematics, mathematical methods to represent theories and analyze problems in economics. Often, these Applied mathematics#Economics, applied methods are beyond simple geometry, and may include diff ...
at the
Ca' Foscari University of Venice. In 1981, he was appointed professor of economic and monetary policy at the
University of Florence a position that he held until 1994. During this time, he also spent time as executive director of the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
in Washington, D.C. In 1983, Draghi was also appointed a counsellor to then-
Minister of Treasury Giovanni Goria.
In 1991, Minister of Treasury
Guido Carli and Bank of Italy Governor
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician, statesman and banker who was the President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 and the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994.
A World War II veteran, C ...
appointed Draghi as director general of the
Italian Treasury; Draghi held this senior position in the civil service until 2001.
During his time at the Treasury, he chaired the committee that revised Italian corporate and financial legislation, and drafted the law that continues to govern Italian financial markets.
Draghi was also among the main proponents of the
privatisation
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
s of many state-owned companies which occurred in the Italian economy through the 1990s. He also chaired the management committee of
SACE, implementing a complete reformation of the group and managing the transition from the ''
Mani Pulite
(; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...
'' corruption scandal. Draghi returned to chair SACE between 1998 and 2001, before the subsequent privatisation. During these years, he was also a board member of several Italian banks and corporations, like
Eni
Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation.
Eni or ENI may refer to:
Businesses and organisations
* Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy
* Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
,
Institute for Industrial Reconstruction,
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and Istituto Mobiliare Italiano.
In 2001, he left the Treasury to become a fellow of the Institute of Politics at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. Draghi was also appointed as vice chairman and managing director of
Goldman Sachs International in 2002. He was also made a member of the firm's management committee, holding all of these roles until 2005.
He led Goldman Sachs's European strategy and its engagements with major European corporations and governments. After the revelation that off-market swaps had been systematically used by the
Greek Government
The Government of Greece (Greek language, Greek: Κυβέρνηση της Ελλάδας), officially the Government of the Hellenic Republic (Κυβέρνηση της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας) is the collective body of the Gre ...
, facilitated by Goldman Sachs, Draghi stated that he "knew nothing" about the arrangement, and "had nothing to do with it". During this period, Draghi also worked as a
trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...
at the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...
in
Princeton, New Jersey
The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
, and also spent time as an honorary trustee at the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...
in Washington, D.C.
Governor of the Bank of Italy

In December 2005, it was announced that Draghi would become
governor of the Bank of Italy
The Governor of the Bank of Italy is the most senior position in the Bank of Italy. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming his or her successor.
List of Governors
...
.
He officially took up the position on 16 January 2006. In April 2006, he was elected by fellow central bank governors to become chairman of the
Financial Stability Forum; this body would later be re-organised to become the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) ...
in April 2009 on behalf of the
G20, bringing together representatives of governments, central banks and national supervisors institutions in the wake of the
financial crisis
A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banki ...
.
As the inaugural FSB chairman, Draghi was responsible to the G20 leaders, and worked to promote international
financial stability
Financial stability is the absence of system-wide episodes in which a financial crisis occurs and is characterised as an economy with Volatility (finance), low volatility. It also involves financial systems' stress-resilience being able to cope wi ...
, improve the functioning of markets and reduce systemic risk through information exchange and international cooperation between supervisors.
In his capacity as Bank of Italy governor, Draghi was also a member of the governing and general councils of the
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
and a member of the board of directors of the
Bank for International Settlements. He also represented Italy on the board of governors at both the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States; it is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers lo ...
and the
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world.
The bank was establishe ...
.
On 5 August 2011, he made a contribution to domestic political debate when, together with the
ECB President Jean Claude Trichet, he published a
notable letter to the
Italian Government of
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
to recommend a series of economic measures that should urgently be implemented in Italy.
President of the European Central Bank
Draghi had for years been mentioned as a possible successor to
Jean-Claude Trichet, whose term as president of the
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
was due to end in October 2011. On 13 February 2011, Wolfgang Münchau, associate editor of the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'', endorsed Draghi as the best candidate for the position. A few days later, ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' wrote that "the next president of the world's second-most-important central bank should be Mario Draghi". Draghi subsequently won the support of Italian prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
for the position, who expressed a desire to see an Italian take the pre-eminent economic policymaking role within the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. On 17 May 2011, the
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...
recommended the nomination of Draghi as President of the ECB. Draghi's nomination was later approved by the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
and the ECB itself, and on 24 June 2011 his appointment was signed-off by EU leaders.
During the nomination process, some concerns were raised about Draghi's past employment at
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...
.
As a member of the
Group of Thirty
The Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sec ...
, founded by the
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
, he was accused in ''
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', ''
Tagesschau.de'' and ''
Die Welt
(, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...
'' of having a conflict of interest as president of the ECB.
Draghi moved to
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
and formally took up the role of ECB President on 1 November 2011, the day after Trichet's term expired.
In December 2011, Draghi brokered a €489 billion three-year loan program from the ECB to EU banks. Draghi's ECB also promptly repealed the final two interest rate hikes of Trichet's term, stating this would ease the continuing
European sovereign debt crisis. In February 2012, Nobel Prize laureate in economics,
Joseph Stiglitz
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, political activist, and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2 ...
argued that on the issue of the impending
Greek debt restructuring, the ECB's insistence that it should be "voluntary", as opposed to a default agreed by Greek authorities, would be "a gift" to the financial institutions that sold credit default insurance on that debt, a position Stiglitz argued was a
moral hazard
In economics, a moral hazard is a situation where an economic actor has an incentive to increase its exposure to risk because it does not bear the full costs associated with that risk, should things go wrong. For example, when a corporation i ...
. In March 2012, a second, larger round of ECB loans to EU banks was initiated, this time called the
Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO). One commentator,
Matthew Lynn, saw the ECB's injection of funds, along with
quantitative easing
Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action where a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary polic ...
from the US
Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
and the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
, as feeding increases in
oil prices
The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPE ...
in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
.

In July 2012, in the midst of renewed fears about sovereigns in the eurozone, Draghi stated in a panel discussion that, under his leadership, the ECB "is ready to do ''whatever it takes'' to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough." This statement was heavily reported throughout the EU and the world's financial markets, and initially led to a steady decline in bond yields (borrowing costs) for eurozone countries, in particular Spain, Italy and France. In light of what had been slow political progress on solving the eurozone crisis, Draghi's statement has come to be seen subsequently as the major turning point in the fortunes of the eurozone, with numerous policymakers and commentators describing it as having been essential to the continuation of the euro currency.
Draghi has since come to be prominently associated with the phrase "whatever it takes". Beginning in 2013, Draghi was criticised in the context of the scandals rising around the bank
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (), known as BMPS or just MPS, is an Italian bank. Tracing its history to a mount of piety founded in 1472 () and established in its present form in 1624 (), it is the world's List of oldest banks, oldest ...
, which according to at least one German publication was making very risky deals.
In April 2013, Draghi said in response to a question regarding membership of the eurozone, "These questions are formulated by people who vastly underestimate what the euro means for the Europeans, for the euro area. They vastly underestimate the political capital that has been invested in the euro." In 2015, in an appearance before the European Parliament, Draghi said that the future of the eurozone was at risk unless member countries gave up some independence and created more Pan-European government institutions. "We have not yet reached the stage of a genuine monetary union," Draghi said. Failure of eurozone countries to harmonise their economies and create stronger institutions would, he said, "put at risk the long-term success of the monetary union when faced with an important shock." In 2015, Draghi said that his political ideas belong to
liberal socialism
Liberal socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates Liberalism, liberal principles to socialism. This synthesis sees liberalism as the political theory that takes the inner freedom of the human spirit as a given and adopts liberty a ...
.
On 31 October 2019, his mandate as ECB President expired and
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde was appointed as his successor.
Prime Minister of Italy
Government formation

Between December 2020 and January 2021, tensions arose within Italy's ruling coalition, with Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte
Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...
and former prime minister
Matteo Renzi
Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...
taking contrary positions on the management of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy was part of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2 ...
as well as its deep economic consequences. On 13 January, Renzi announced the resignation of the two Cabinet Ministers from his party,
Italia Viva
Italia Viva (, IV) is a Liberalism, liberal list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party ( ...
, triggering the collapse of the
second Conte Government. On 26 January, after days of inconclusive negotiations with political parties, Conte tendered his resignation as prime minister to President Mattarella.
On 2 February 2021, following failed consultations between parties to nominate a replacement, President Mattarella announced he would summon Draghi to the
Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outs ...
, with the intention of giving him the task of forming a
technocratic
Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...
government. The following day, Draghi accepted the task of forming a new government and began consultations with party leaders. Draghi quickly secured the support of the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD), the centrist
Italia Viva
Italia Viva (, IV) is a Liberalism, liberal list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party ( ...
(IV), the left-wing
Free and Equal (LeU), and other small liberal and centrist parties. After an initial delay,
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...
, leader of the right-wing
League, and
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
, leader of the centre-right , jointly announced they too would support Draghi. Finally, on 11 February, the membership of the
Five Star Movement (M5S) approved the party's support for Draghi, with 59.3% of party members voting in favour of joining the new government.

On 12 February, Draghi unveiled the members of
his Cabinet, which included representatives from all of the above political parties, including 9 ministers from the outgoing cabinet, as well as independent technocrats.
The following day, Draghi was sworn in as prime minister. Draghi's cabinet was described as a
national unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...
in the wake of its announcement.
On 17 February, Draghi won a confidence vote in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, with 262 votes in favour, 40 against and 2 abstentions. On the following day, he won a further confidence vote in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
with 535 votes in favour, 56 against and 5 abstentions; this margin represented one of the largest ever majorities in the history of the Italian Republic. During his first speech as prime minister to both houses of the
Italian Parliament
The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...
, Draghi stated that the Italy that emerged after the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
would have to undergo a period of reconstruction similar to
post-World War II
The aftermath of World War II saw the rise of two global superpowers, the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The aftermath of World War II was also defined by the rising threat of nuclear warfare, the creation and implementati ...
Italy, and that it would be his government's responsibility to begin this process. He also stressed that his government would adopt a strongly pro-European position, and emphasised the importance of Italy remaining within the
Eurosystem
The Eurosystem is the monetary authority of the eurozone, the collective of European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their sole official currency. The European Central Bank (ECB) has, under Article 16 of its Statute, .
On 13 May, it was announced that Draghi would forgo his annual salary of €115,000 for being prime minister.
COVID-19 pandemic

Addressing the nation shortly after becoming prime minister, Draghi stated that it would be his government's priority to plan a route out of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and pledged to reorganise the country's pandemic response units; on 27 February, Draghi replaced the Head of the
Civil Protection
Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, ...
,
Angelo Borrelli
Angelo Borrelli (born 18 November 1964) is an Italian government official, who served as Head of the Protezione Civile, Civil Protection, from 8 August 2017 until 26 February 2021.
Biography
Borrelli was born in Santi Cosma e Damiano, Lazio, San ...
, with
Fabrizio Curcio, and on 1 March, he replaced the Extraordinary Commissioner for the COVID-19 Emergency,
Domenico Arcuri, with the
Army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
General
Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, who received the additional mandate of reorganising and implementing the
vaccination campaign. Borrelli and Arcuri had both been considered close to former prime minister Giuseppe Conte.
Following discussions with European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...
, Draghi announced that he had agreed to ensure vaccines produced in Italy were prioritised for distribution to the population of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. On the following day, Draghi made international headlines by authorising the blocking of a shipment of 250,000
Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccines that were originally intended to travel to Australia. This led to harsh criticism by Australian prime minister
Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...
and British prime minister
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
. Conversely, Draghi's decision was praised by other European leaders, such as French President
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
. In mid-March, the Italian Government announced it would pause the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, after reports that some Italians treated with it had developed blood clots, although no death cases have been reported directly due to the vaccine.
On 16 March 2021, Draghi had a phone call with the French President Macron concerning the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine and of the eventual decisions of the
European Medicines Agency
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of pharmaceutical products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products ...
that will take a definitive decision on 18 March 2021.
On 15 March 2021, Draghi placed the majority of Italy under so-called 'full lockdown' conditions, with non-essential businesses closing and travel restricted, in response to an increase in the transmission of COVID-19, although unlike the 2020 lockdown, factories and some other workplaces were allowed to remain open. Announcing the lockdown, Draghi vowed that Italy would see its vaccination programme triple in April, reaching 500,000 people per day by that time. Around this time, Draghi's approval rating as prime minister reached a new high of 63% in opinion polls.
On 16 April, during a press conference with his health minister
Roberto Speranza, Draghi announced that restrictions will be eased from 26 April, allowing the reopening of bars and restaurants, stating that "it is possible to look to the future with prudent optimism and confidence".
From the summer of 2021 to 2022, Italy had greatly suffered from the highly transmissible
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet
* D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
cron
The cron command-line utility is a job scheduler on Unix-like operating systems. Users who set up and maintain software environments use cron to schedule jobs (commands or shell scripts), also known as cron jobs, to run periodically at fixed t ...
hybrid variant that is combined with Delta and Omicron variant, also known as the recombination event, for example: In June 2021, COVID-19 Delta variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Italy, especially among all of those who are unvaccinated or fully vaccinated. To contain the spread of new variants, in August of the same year, Italian government extended the requirement of the
EU Digital COVID Certificate, also known as "Green Pass", to the participation in sports events and music festivals, but also to the access to indoor places like bars, restaurants, and gyms, as well as to long-distance public transportation. On 15 October of the same year, Italy became the first country in the world to established both mandatory
COVID-19 vaccination certificate and/or
negative test, for the entire work force, public, and private. On 24 November of the same year, Draghi announced the introduction of COVID-19 vaccination certificate for all the recreational activities, like cinemas, bars, restaurants, and sport games; thus, eliminating the possibility of attending one of these activities with a negative test only. On 27 November 2021,
COVID-19 Omicron variant has arrived in Italy. However, as the country became widespread, Italy has now causing a massive increase in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. On 5 January 2022, amid the spread of COVID-19 Deltacron hybrid variant, Italian government introduced
compulsory vaccination
A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by state or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or sc ...
for all Italian citizens above the age of 50.
Domestic reforms

In July and August, Draghi led the process to overhaul Italy's criminal and civil justice system, with an aim of reducing the time taken to resolve cases. Among other things, the reform package abolished one of the two levels of appeal applied to most cases in the Italian judiciary. The reforms had long been argued for by several political parties, on the basis that the slow legal system disincentivised external investment into Italy.
On 3 August 2021, the package of reforms passed the Italian Parliament after Draghi announced that he would consider the vote a question of confidence in his government.
Draghi also announced that the passage of judicial overhaul would be linked to the allocation of €200bn in post-pandemic stimulus funds from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. The judicial overhaul represented the first successful reform package of the Italian justice system in several decades.
In October 2021, the Draghi Government passed its
budget
A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...
for 2022. The budget modified the pension reform approved by the Conte Government, known as ''Quota 100'', which enabled retirement at age 62 with 38 years of contributions, introducing instead the so-called ''Quota 102'' (which allows retirement at age 64 with 38 years of contributions). Italian trade unions opposed the reform and organised a general strike in protest in late November and early December 2021. The Draghi government's budget also modified the
citizens' income, a universal basic income introduced by Conte. The new income introduces a gradual decline in the allowance after six months and its revocation after two rejected job offers.
On 30 December 2021, Draghi oversaw passage of an additional budget proposal, including an overhaul of the Italian taxation system, the introduction of a new series of tax credits and wide-ranging company tax cuts, subsidies for firms that hire young people and new mothers, subsidised mortgages for people buying their first property, and a fund set aside in order to mitigate rising energy prices. At the end of 2021, the ''
Economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
'' magazine named Italy as its 'Country of the Year', awarded each year to the country judged to have made the most improvement over the course of one year. The magazine singled out Draghi's leadership as central to the decision.
In the
2022 presidential election, Draghi was widely seen as a probable successor of incumbent president
Sergio Mattarella
Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician and jurist who has served as the president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 20 ...
. However, on 29 January 2022, Draghi publicly supported the re-election of Mattarella as president, ending media speculation that he himself could succeed Mattarella, and pledged to oversee an overhaul of Italian competition law and public procurement policy in the following six months, with a view to increase the performance of the economy.
On 18 February 2022, amid the
global energy crisis, the Draghi Government approved a package of €8bn euro to support the economy, heavily affected by the rise of energy costs.
Foreign policies
Since the beginning of his premiership, Draghi implemented an active foreign policy focused on the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
, North Africa and the Middle East in order to increase Italy's influence over the area. On 6 April 2021, Draghi visited
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
, in his
first international trip, during which he met Prime Minister
Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh
Abdul Hamid Muhammad Abdul Rahman al-Dbeibeh (, also transliterated as Dbeibah) is a Libyan politician and businessman who is the prime minister of Libya under the Government of National Unity (Libya), Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripo ...
, saying he wanted to strengthen ties with the African country, a former colony of Italy. The trip was described as an attempt to reduce the Turkish and Egyptian influences over Libya, following the aftermath of the
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. Days later, Draghi publicly labelled Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
as a "dictator", harshly criticising him for his behaviour after a meeting with European leaders
Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...
and
Charles Michel
Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the president of the European Council from 2019 to 2024. He previously served as the Prime Minister of Belgium, prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Miche ...
, during which, according to Draghi, he "
humiliated President von der Leyen". The statement caused immediate reactions from the Turkish government. Turkey's foreign minister
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu summoned Italian ambassador and described Draghi's words as an "unacceptable populist rhetoric", while many other prominent members of Erdoğan's cabinet strongly attacked Draghi. However, Draghi was backed by several European leaders, including the head of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...
,
Manfred Weber
Manfred Weber (born 14 July 1972) is a German politician who has been serving as President of the European People's Party (EPP) since 2022 and as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament since 2014. He has been a Member of the European ...
. On 14 April, Erdoğan accused Draghi of being an "appointed and unelected Prime Minister", describing his statement as "rude and impertinent".

In June 2021, Draghi attended his first
G7 summit in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
in the United Kingdom. During the meeting, Draghi led discussions on strategy for avoiding adverse market reactions to stimulus spending. During the summit, Draghi held a bilateral meeting with U.S. President
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
. Draghi praised Biden, saying he had improved relations between the European Union and the United States.
In August 2021, following the withdrawal of NATO troops from
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
amid the
Taliban offensive, the Italian government took part in the
evacuation from Kabul. Within the Operation "Aquila Omnia", nearly 5,000 Afghans were evacuated by the
Italian Armed Forces
The Italian Armed Forces (, ) encompass the Italian Army, the Italian Navy and the Italian Air Force. A fourth Military branch, branch of the armed forces, known as the Carabinieri, take on the role as the nation's Gendarmerie, military police an ...
and brought to Italy.
On 30 and 31 October 2021, Rome hosted the annual
G20 summit. Draghi and the other leaders mainly discussed climate change, COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic global recovery in health, economic and political terms. The only leaders who did not attend the G20 were the
Chinese leader Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...
and the Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
.
On 26 November 2021, Draghi signed the "
Quirinal Treaty", with the French president
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
, at the
Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace ( ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, the main official residence of the President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporziano, an estate on the outs ...
, in Rome. The treaty is aimed to promote the convergence and coordination of French and Italian positions in matters of European and foreign policies, security and defence, migration policy, economy, education, research, culture and cross-border cooperation.
Under Draghi's premiership, a new approach toward Russia was implemented; the new Italian foreign policies was described by the ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' as "one of the biggest foreign policy shifts in years". On 24 February 2022,
Russia invaded Ukraine; Draghi harshly condemned Russia's attack, calling for an immediate ceasefire and promising "whatever it takes to restore Ukrainian sovereignty". He added that it was "impossible to have meaningful dialogue with Moscow", demanding Russia to unconditionally pull its forces back to the internationally established borders. Despite initial reluctance, on 26 February, during a phone call with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
, Draghi agreed to support the exclusion of Russia from the
SWIFT
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIF ...
network, the international financial transactions system. On 22 March, Draghi broke with other European leaders when he publicly supported the application of Ukraine to join the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Draghi was also among the main proponents of the freezing of a large part of
Russian Central Bank's 643 billion dollars of foreign currency reserves.
As of May 2022, the Italian government allocated 500 million euros to support Ukrainians arriving in Italy and 110 million in financial assistance for the Ukrainian government. Moreover, Italy sent also military equipment to Ukraine. On 3 May 2022, Draghi addressed the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
dealing with several themes. According to Draghi, the EU needed to embrace "pragmatic
federalism
Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...
" in multiple policy sectors, like security, economy and defence.
On 16 June 2022, Draghi visited
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
alongside French President
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
and German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...
. The three leaders had a long meeting with Ukraine's President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
to discuss various issues such as Ukraine's application to be an EU member and the
ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. The trip was considered "historic" by various commentators.
Resignation

On 13 July 2022, after months of tensions regarding economic policies implemented by the government as well as the military response to the war in Ukraine,
Giuseppe Conte
Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy, prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) sin ...
, leader of the
Five Star Movement (M5S) and former prime minister, revoked the support to the government on the so-called ''decreto aiuti'' (), concerning economic stimulus to contrast the ongoing economic and energy crisis, opening a
political crisis within the majority. On the following day, the Senate approved the decree with 172 votes, but the M5S abstained, leaving the Senate floor. After a few hours, following a meeting with president Mattarella, Draghi officially announced his resignation as prime minister, stating that "the pact of trust and confidence underlying the government action had failed." However, the resignation was rejected by Mattarella, who invited Draghi to explain the political situation to the Parliament on 20 July.
On 20 July, Draghi held a speech in front of the Senate, harshly condemning the positions that M5S and Lega held during the last months of the cabinet. In the evening, the government failed to reach the absolute majority in the confidence vote as Lega, FI and M5S decided not to take part in the ballot, ''de facto'' causing the fall of the government. On the following day, after a speech in front of the Chamber of Deputies, Draghi officially resigned as prime minister. Mattarella accepted his resignation, but Draghi remained in office as caretaker prime minister, until the formation of a new government following the
2022 general election.
EU competitiveness rapporteur
From 2023 to 2024, Mario Draghi wrote the
Draghi report on European competitiveness.
On 18 February 2025, during the European Parliamentary Week in Brussels, former Italian Prime Minister and ex-President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, delivered a keynote address. He emphasized the necessity for the European Union to act cohesively and swiftly in response to current challenges, stating that the EU must operate “more and more as if we were one state.” Draghi highlighted issues such as energy market reforms, the importance of innovation, and the need to reduce internal barriers to enhance competitiveness. He concluded by urging national governments, parliaments, and European institutions to collaborate closely to provide hope and effective solutions for European citizens during this critical period.
Personal life

In 1973, Mario Draghi married Maria Serenella Cappello, of noble origins and descendant of
Bianca Cappello, and an expert in
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
,
[Chi è Serena Cappello la moglie di Mario Draghi: "Lei ne sa più di me"]
, ''la Repubblica'' with whom he has two children: Federica, who worked as investment director of Genextra Spa and board member of Italian Angels for Biotechis, and Giacomo, a finance analyst, who worked as an
interest-rate derivative trader at investment bank
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...
until 2017, and is now at the
LMR Partners hedge fund
A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...
.
Draghi is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
of
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
education and is devoted to St.
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...
. Draghi has homes in Rome's
Parioli
Parioli () is the 2nd of Rome, identified by the initials Q. II.
The toponym is also used to indicate the urbanistic area 2B of the .
The name comes from Monti Parioli, a series of tufa hills, and was given to the area before its incorporatio ...
district and in
Città della Pieve in Umbria. He is a supporter of
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...
, one of the football teams of his hometown, and a great fan of
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
. In 2015, he identified himself as a
liberal socialist.
Honours
Italian honours
Foreign honours
*20 September 2022: World Statesman Award presented by
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
at the 57th Annual Awards Dinner in New York, which was organized by the
Appeal of Conscience Foundation.
Honorary degrees
*Honorary Master of Business Administration (
MIB School of Management Trieste, 2004).
*Honorary distinction in statistics (
University of Padua
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
, 2009).
*Honorary Master of Business Administration (Vicenza, CUOA Foundation, 2010).
*Honorary degree in political science (
Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, 2013).
*Honorary doctorate (
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
, 2017).
*Honorary PhD in economics (
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, 2018).
*Honorary degree in law (
Università degli Studi di Bologna, 2018).
*Honorary degree in economics (
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, colloquially the Catholic University of Milan () or simply the Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 1921. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy, with satellite campuses in B ...
, 2019).
References
Further reading
*
*Bahaa Moni
Europe's Deflation: Imaginative Risk and Fictional Policies(How President Mario Draghi views Negative interest rates, Quantitative Easing Program and Deflation in Europe.) – ORCA Forex
External links
Profile at the Italian Government Website*
*
Profile at the Bank of Italy Website''Time'' magazine
Mario Draghi – The World's 100 Most Influential People: 2013 – TIME''Time'' magazine
Mario Draghi – The World's 100 Most Influential People: 2021 – TIME''Time'' magazine
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draghi, Mario
1947 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Rome
Prime ministers of Italy
People of Venetian descent
People of Campanian descent
Italian Roman Catholics
Draghi Cabinet
Eurogroup
Goldman Sachs people
Governors of the Bank of Italy
Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Grand Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Group of Thirty
Italian bankers
Italian officials of the European Union
MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni
Presidents of the European Central Bank
Sapienza University of Rome alumni
Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study
20th-century Italian economists
21st-century Italian economists
21st-century Italian politicians