In the years following the World War I, Italy faces the difficulties of post-war re-adjustment in the framework of an international economy that sees the balance of power between the major powers deeply changed, with the decline of England and France and the overwhelming emergence of United States as the main economic power.
Victory in war seems to be the prerequisite for a prestigious placement of Italy in the international scenario. The Italian economy, however, is threatened by public debt and inflation; it is thus necessary to follow the deflationary policy dictated by creditor powers.
These are the years in which the Bank of Italy became a proper central bank, but also those in which the defense of its operational autonomy, threatened by the fascist regime, is more difficult. The relations with the central banks of creditor countries facilitate the task, but the space gained will shrink again as a result of the great crisis of the 1930s.
