From 1997 to 2007, he again worked at the Bank of Italy, where he was director of the public finance section of the Research Department.

From 1999 to 2007 he chaired the Public Finance Working Group of the European System of Central Banks.

In this capacity, he represents the Bank in committees and working groups in international bodies and is a member of working groups at the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Treasury, the Presidency of the Council and Italian National Institute of Statistics.

[3] In this capacity, he chaired the meetings of G20 Ministers of Finance when Italy held the group's presidency in 2021.

[5] In 2023, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni nominated Franco as Italy’s candidate to succeed Werner Hoyer as president of the European Investment Bank.