Mario Draghi, Director general of the Italian treasury
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Mario Draghi, Director general of the Italian treasury

There have been four changes of government in Italy since 1991 but Mario Draghi has rarely seemed threatened as director general of the republic's treasury. While treasury minister Carlo Ciampi - who also appears certain to keep his post in the new administration of prime minister Massimo d'Alema - has concentrated on reducing Italy's budget deficit in readiness for the European single currency, Draghi has emerged as the most powerful figure behind wide-ranging financial reforms. He and Ciampi were also central to the planning and implementation of the "euro tax" and a major deficit reduction, which enabled Italy to meet the criteria for entry to the first round of Emu.

As far as foreign investors are concerned, Draghi's influence has been most obviously felt in the field of privatization. Over the past seven years, he has had overall responsibility for Italy's programme of sell-offs - one of the largest in the world according to the OECD. As head of the treasury department entrusted with the shares of the state companies to be sold he has ultimate responsibility for choreographing the transactions. Notable achievements of his team (known in the treasury as "the Draghi boys") include the sale of Telecom Italia - a highly complex transaction that greatly increased Italy's number of shareholders - and oil company Eni.

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