The Bank of Italy has published a historical note marking the 80th anniversary of Italy’s June 1946 institutional referendum, presenting the birth of the Republic as the political turning point that allowed the central bank to regain autonomy and resume a normal institutional role. The note says this restored autonomy enabled Banca d’Italia, under Luigi Einaudi and then Director General Donato Menichella, to lead monetary stabilization efforts that curbed a renewed inflation surge in 1946 and restored the credibility of monetary policy. Set against severe post-war conditions, including a roughly 40 per cent fall in real household spending from pre-war levels, a two-thirds drop in industrial production and rationing of 900 calories a day, the note links monetary stability to Italy’s reintegration into the international economic and financial community. It also highlights Banca d’Italia’s role in attracting and managing Interim Aid, Marshall Plan funds and World Bank loans, and connects those measures to the reconstruction process and the strong low-inflation growth of the 1950s and 1960s, when Italy’s per capita income rose to levels comparable with France, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Bank of Italy2026-06-01
Bank of Italy marks the 80th anniversary of the Republic by highlighting its role in post war monetary stabilization and reconstruction
The Bank of Italy has published a historical note marking the 80th anniversary of Italy’s June 1946 institutional referendum, highlighting how the birth of the Republic restored the central bank’s autonomy and normal institutional role. This autonomy enabled Banca d’Italia to lead post-war monetary stabilisation, manage international aid and loans, and support reconstruction and low-inflation growth that raised Italy’s per capita income to levels comparable with France, the United Kingdom and Germany.