Italy: Mario Draghi works as prime minister for free

Rome: Italy’s prime minister Mario Draghi receives zero remuneration for his post running the country, according to documents published on the Italian government’s website.

The papers, published to fulfill “administrative transparency,” reveal that the former head of the European Central Bank is performing the role of prime minister for free.

A document posted on the Palazzo Chigi website reads: “The undersigned Mario Draghi hereby declares that he receives no remuneration of any kind related to his appointment to office.”

Draghi’s income in 2020, for the fiscal year of 2019, amounts to €581,665, reports Italian news agency ANSA.

The premier declares the possession of 10 buildings (including one in London) – both owned and co-owned – and six plots of land, as well as a stake of €10,000 in the general partnership company ‘Serena,’ reports newspaper La Repubblica.

The prime minister, who took up his role on 13 February, does not list any cars, boats or aircraft in his possession.

Draghi’s predecessor Giuseppe Conte received a stipend of €91,837, an amount “equal to 80 per cent of the allowance of €114,796.68,” reduced at the former premier’s request, according to Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.

Draghi’s taxable income amounts to about half that declared by Conte on his arrival at Palazzo Chigi in 2018, which was listed at almost €1.2 million.

However, the record belongs to former premier Silvio Berlusconi, the media tycoon and leader of the centre-right Forza Italia, reports Il Sole 24 Ore.

In 2006, the then leader of the Popolo della Libertà (PdL) declared an income of more than €139 million.