Born in Naples on 21 November 1949. Married, three daughters.

He was appointed Governor of the Bank of Italy on 24 October 2011, with effect from 1 November 2011.

Chairman of the joint Governing Board of the Insurance Supervisory Authority (IVASS) as of 1 January 2013.

Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy from 9 January 2007 to 31 October 2011. Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the European System of Central Banks – ESCB (2009-10).

Graduated summa cum laude in Economics at the University of Rome in 1971, hired by the Bank of Italy in 1972, he completed his advanced training at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (M.A in 1974 and Ph. D. in Economics in 1981), with several fellowships ("Bonaldo Stringher", Bank of Italy; Ente "Luigi Einaudi" per gli studi monetari, bancari e finanziari; "Marco Fanno", Mediocredito Centrale; "Economic Research Unit", Economics Department, University of Pennsylvania).

In 1974 he joined the Bank of Italy's Economic Research Department, where he engaged over the years in empirical and theoretical research, focusing on the Italian economy, macroeconomic policy, and econometric methods and modelling. In 1990 he was appointed Head of the Economic Research Department, participating in the study and design of monetary and exchange rate policy decisions and representing the Bank on a number of national and international committees (including at the OECD, EU and BIS).

Between 1997 and 2002, he was Chief Economist and Head of the Economics Department of the OECD, and he served on several international groups and committees, including the G-10 Deputies (in which he subsequently represented the Bank of Italy in 2004-2006) and the Commission on Global Ageing of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, DC). Returning to the Bank of Italy, he was appointed Central Manager for External Activities in March 2004, and then worked as Central Manager for Economic Research from March to December 2006.

He taught econometrics (1983-1985) and economic policy (1989) at the University of Rome. He is the author of many articles and books including: Price Expectations in Rising Inflation, North Holland, 1984; Le aspettative nell'analisi economica, Il Mulino, 1985; Inflazione, concorrenza e sviluppo (with S. Micossi), Il Mulino, 1993; Saving and the Accumulation of Wealth (with A. Ando and L. Guiso), Cambridge University Press, 1994; L'economia italiana (with L. F. Signorini), Il Mulino, 2002; Ageing and Pension System Reform (Report for the G-10 Deputies, chairman of the Working Group), 2005; Investire in conoscenza, Il Mulino, 2009.

He was Associate Editor of the European Economic Review (1986-1991) and member of the following Scientific Committees: Fondazione Enrico Mattei (1994-2001), Raffaele Mattioli Lectures (1996-2004) and ISAE "Monitoring Italy" (2002-2003).

He is a member of the Italian Economics Society, the Italian Statistics Society, and the American Economic Association. He was granted the Leontief Award for Best Dissertation in Quantitative Economics (Eastern Economic Association, 1982), the "Best in Class" prize, Economics Department, "La Sapienza" University of Rome (2006) and the title of Cavaliere di Gran Croce al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (2011).

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