He was born in Siena on 13 October 1961 and graduated with honours in Economics from the University of Siena in 1986. After a brief research experience at that university, he continued his studies at Princeton University, where he obtained an MA in Economics in 1989.

He joined the Bank of Italy in 1990 to work in the Research Department, first in the international sector, then in the monetary and financial sector. In 1997-98, he was a visiting student at Harvard University. In 2007, he was appointed Head of the Monetary Analysis Division and he became Deputy Head of the Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy Directorate in 2013.

He was Head of the Market Operations Directorate from February 2017 to April 2020.

In the same period, he was a member of the ECB's Market Operations Committee and an alternate member of the Markets Committee of the Bank for International Settlements. He was also a representative of the Bank on the Council of Assiom Forex, the Financial Markets Association of Italy. From August 2019 to September 2021, he was a member of the ECB euro short-term rate Oversight Committee.

He was Head of the Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy Directorate from the end of April 2020 to May 2023.

In June 2023, he joined the management of the Directorate General for Economics, Statistics and Research. His main role is that of high-level advisor, supporting the Director General in the work connected with the participation of the Governor in the ECB's Governing Council and assisting the Director General in his position as 'accompanying person' in the Council.

Since May 2020, he has been a member of the ECB Monetary Policy Committee, a position he had already held from 2013 to 2017. He has also represented the Bank in the OECD Group of High-Level Monetary Experts and participated in the BIS Working Party on Domestic Monetary Policy.

He has published articles in various Italian and foreign scientific journals on topics relating to monetary policy, the foreign exchange market and the monetary unification process, the impact of the launch of the euro on measured and perceived inflation, the determinants of credit during the financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis. He coedited the volume The Euro, Inflation and Consumers' Perceptions. Lesson from Italy (with R. Sabbatini, Springer, 2008).