Giovanni Tria


Giovanni Tria was an Italian economist and university professor who served as the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance in the Conte I Cabinet.

Early life and career

Giovanni Tria was born in Rome in 1948. He graduated in Law from the Sapienza University of Rome, where he then became Professor of Economics, Macroeconomics and the History of Economic Thought. During the same period he also taught at the University of Perugia. He is currently Professor of Political Economics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where he has been Dean in the Faculty of Economics since 2017.
Over the years he has served as a senior advisor in various ministries. From 2002 to 2006 and from 2009 to 2012 he served as member of the Board of Directors of the International Labour Organization. From 1 January 2010 to 15 March 2016, he was President of the National School of Administration.
He collaborates with the newspaper Il Foglio and he is part of the scientific committee of the Magna Carta Foundation, a think tank whose orientation is inspired by the conservative liberalism of the Anglo-Saxon tradition.

Minister of Finance, 2018–2019

On 31 May 2018, Tria was selected as Minister of Economy and Finances in the government of Giuseppe Conte. At the time, he was drafted into the government as a last-minute replacement for Paolo Savona, who was vetoed by President Sergio Mattarella because of his criticism of the euro currency.
Early in his term, Tria committed to holding the national budget deficit below 2 percent of gross domestic product but eventually came under pressure from the coalition to set a target of 2.4 percent.

Other activities

European Union organizations