RomeItaly wants €5.9 billion from its banks next year.

Intesa’s chief warns the levies could push the European Central Bank to make lenders shed government bonds.

Under ECB rules, Carlo Messina said, spreading €20 billion of renovation tax credits over 10 years counts as forbearance.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the higher taxation “a matter of justice” given rising living costs.

Italy expects a critical ECB legal opinion on the budget, people familiar with the matter said.

How each outlet framed it
Reuters leans critical
warns the levy could push the ECB to cut bank sovereign-debt exposure, and calls the measures partly unconstitutional

Sources: Reuters