SUMMARY
The article is an introductory report presented at a round table conference held at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome on March 8th, 1974. In order to evaluate the current conditions with regards to savings in Italy, the Bank of Italy’s studies on Italian financial accounts and in particular the analysis of the formation of the financial component of savings is used. The author highlights three aspects which are somewhat anomalous in comparison with the position in other countries, and even with previous periods in Italy: the high rate of inflation, the negative saving of the public sector and the considerable and persistent export of capital. From a policy perspective, these anomalies must be taken into consideration in order to encourage savings. JEL: E21, E58, G11, E31