ganised crime to free the stranglehold it has on the south and stop its growing expansion in the north, which are hindering the country's economic growth, Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi said on Friday.
Speaking at a conference on the expansion of the mafia in Italy's prosperous north, Draghi added that organised crime risks dismembering the country's social fabric and poses a threat to democracy itself.
Looking at Italy's south, known as the Mezzogiorno, Draghi said the reason why it was economically underdeveloped was directly related to the deep, historic roots organised crime syndicates have in those regions.
Over the past 30 years, he explained, the control of organised crime in the regions of Puglia and Basilicata "is responsible for the loss of 20 percentage points in GDP due to lower private investment".
Turning his attention to the north, the Bank of Italy governor cited official statistics which demonstrated how organised crime was on the offensive in regions like Lombardy "where 80% of the arrests for mafia association were in the provinces of Milan, Bergamo and Brescia".
Italy was making some progress in cracking down on money laundering, Draghi said, but a greater role in pinpointing possible violations needed to be played by notaries and certified accountants, even if they were the most exposed to pressure from Mob figures.
The economic crisis of the past three years, the governor added, has contributed to the mafia's spread in the north because many companies found themselves strapped for cash and thus tempted to take dirty money and fall into the grips of organized crime.
Sourced at Life in Italy .com by Daran Oswyn Jones
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