The Policy of Stockpiling Grain and its Costs to the Italian State after World War II

The system of stockpiling was established in Italy, even under the pressureof falling prices, in 1930 when the voluntary organization of storinggrain was entrusted to the Italian Federation of Agricultural Associations,which was later to become responsible also for the voluntary storage ofcotton in 1938.After 1940, when Italy entered the war, the network of stockpiling notonly had to fulfil the functions of management and programming, butalso fix the ceiling prices on food products and their rationing, as wellas increasing controls to fight the tendency of producers to avoid legalobligations.In this paper we will try to draw a picture of the situation of stockpilingin the aftermath of World War II. This contribution, which is part of a much larger study, will examine, in particular, the aspect of financial interventions connected with compulsory stockpiling in Italy in relation tothe financing of the public debt. And, therefore, the main source, thoughnot the only one, for this kind of analysis, which produces some resultsthat are not well known, must necessarily be the official financial statementsand Annual Reports of the Bank of Italy.