Paolo Baratta OMRI (born 11 November 1939) is an Italian economist and ex-minister.

In 1977 he became director of the ICIPU, an Italian credit consortium for public companies; later, he became the first vice president and then president.

[4] In 1993 he became Minister in Giuliano Amato's cabinet.

[2] Subsequently he held the position of Minister of Foreign Trade in the Ciampi Cabinet (1993-1994); Minister of Industry, Commerce and Interim Crafts in the Ciampi Government (1994); Minister of Public Works and Minister of the Environment in the Dini Cabinet (1995-1996).

[4] Baratta was president of the Venice Biennale for 12 years (2008–2020) and is still a member of the boards of the Ferrovie dello Stato and of Telecom Italia.