Guido Crosetto is a six-foot-tall politician who is considered one of the pillars of Italy's ruling Fratelli d'Italia party.

Together with today's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the current Senate President Ignazio La Russa, he founded the right-wing populist party a good 10 years ago.

The 59-year-old politician is actually one of the moderate and business-friendly representatives of his camp.

He was forgiven for falsely boasting that he had a degree in economics from the University of Turin on his CV up to 2013.

"The small, innocent lie", as he called the fake, he corrected after journalists had investigated.

Crosetto is now Italy's defense minister, having previously worked in the armaments sector.

Nevertheless, he still feels called upon to comment on economic issues - especially when it comes to the European Central Bank, with which he has previously fought various battles.

On Friday he described those responsible in Frankfurt as "insane" - or at least called their policy "insane", the Italian language is not entirely clear.

Is “the fun” over for Italy in Europe now?

With continued interest rate hikes, the ECB is choking off the economy, although unlike in the USA, inflation in Europe is only imported through energy prices.

"It makes no sense to raise interest rates," the defense secretary said in several tweets, accompanied by price charts.

At the same time tightening the banks' capital requirements, which restricts lending, and reducing the purchase of (Italian) government bonds, there is no logic.

"I didn't understand President Lagarde's Christmas present to Italy."

Minister Crosetto said the monetary authorities' latest decision was "frivolous" and "detached" from economic realities.

It was less surprising that Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, also tweeted against the ECB, because that's how he is known.

"It is incredible, disturbing and worrying that a government is doing everything it can to increase wages and pensions and cut taxes while the ECB passes a regulation in one afternoon that will save billions of euros in savings in Italy and across Europe burns and sends interest rates skyrocketing,” Salvini wrote.

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani supported his colleagues on Friday.

It is "right to make comments".

Only Economics and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti remained silent.

Prime Minister Meloni had threatened during the election campaign that "the fun was now over" in Europe ("la pacchia e' finita").

This may now apply in reverse as the ECB's message to Italy.

The interest rate differential between German and Italian government bonds has risen by 14 percent since Thursday;

Italian shares, down 3.45 percent on Thursday, were down again on Friday.