Salerno

26-27 June 2024

'How is the economy doing in my region?' is a complex question; it means knowing, for example, how much businesses produce and sell, how much families earn and spend, how many loans banks grant, how many people have jobs, and how many are looking for work. On 26 June, at the 'Pulse of the Economy' event held at the Palazzo di Città, the people of Salerno received answers directly from Banca d'Italia, based on its latest report on the economy of Campania. The guest speakers also shared ideas on how to foster growth.

After the formal greetings from Vincenzo Napoli, Mayor of Salerno, and Luca Moscadelli, Director of the local Banca d’Italia branch, the Bank's expert Luigi Leva presented the key data from the report. In summary, like the national economy, the economy of Campania grew (+0.7%) in 2023 but at a slower pace than the previous year, due to weakening consumption and investments. The region had also grown between 2019 and 2023, almost matching the national growth, noted Daniela Palumbo, director of Banca d'Italia's Naples branch. 'For the first time after a crisis, Campania has caught up with the national recovery'.

So how can growth continue? Many proposals were made. Palumbo spoke about the need to increase women's participation in the workforce, to boost business productivity and to modernize public administrations. Sergio Pietro Destefanis, Head of the Department of Economic and Statistical Sciences at the University of Salerno, suggested upgrading employment centres and coordinating passive labour market policies (such as unemployment benefits) with active ones (such as training programmes).

Andrea Prete, President of Unioncamere, called for the gap between the skills that workers have and those that businesses seek to be reduced, by promoting higher-level technical institutes and addressing the demographic decline by encouraging regulated migration flows. Agostino Gallozzi, President of the Gallozzi Group (shipping transport), who is from Salerno, highlighted the importance of exports and the need to improve logistics to facilitate the sale of exported products. He also stressed the importance of improving people’s labour mobility and skills without losing national talent.

The event was concluded by Vincenzo De Luca, President of the Campania Region, who emphasized the importance of basing economic debates and political decisions on objective, indisputable information. He also discussed the obstacles to Italy's economic development and the interventions needed to overcome them, such as unlocking funds and streamlining? bureaucracy. He concluded by pointing out some positive aspects of Campania and Salerno's economies, such as the performance of businesses in certain sectors.

The following day, on 27 June, the 'Beware of Online Scams!' event took place at the Palazzo della Provincia. The event aimed to inform people about how to recognize and avoid fraud in online payments. After an introduction by representatives from the Province of Salerno and the local Banca d'Italia branch, the event featured speeches by Gianluca Caputo, deputy prosecutor of Nocera Inferiore, Andrea Tanga from the Movimento Difesa del Cittadino, Salvatore Sica from the Banking and Financial Ombudsman and Giancarlo Scelza from Banca d'Italia.

Finally, on 26 and 27 June, people had the opportunity to learn more about Banca d'Italia's role and the services it provides through guided tours of the local branch. Financial education workshops were also part of the open days.