ZCZC
BCN-05
ITALY-ECONOMY-GROWTH
Italian economy to stagnate this year: economy minister
ROME, April 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Italy is headed for zero economic growth
in 2019, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said Sunday, while brushing off
possible changes to the government’s budget.
“We face a widespread slowdown in growth across Europe, and in Italy we
are headed for zero” growth, Tria told an economic forum in Florence.
Italy’s central bank and the International Monetary Fund have both
estimated that the eurozone’s third-largest economy would expand by a meagre
0.6 percent this year, while the European Commission was more pessimistic,
pencilling growth of just 0.2 percent.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Italian economy contracted owing to a
slowdown in exports, plunging it into a technical recession and increasing
the government’s budgetary problems.
But despite pressure from EU officials to maintain fiscal discipline, Tria
said: “No one is asking us for a corrective manoeuvre, so I exclude that.”
The EU warned last week of a new row brewing with Italy over its budget,
barely a few months after both sides agreed on a hard-fought deal with Rome’s
disputed 2019 finances.
Italy’s public debt now sits at 2.3 trillion euros ($2.6 trillion), or 131
percent of Italy’s GDP — way above the 60 percent EU ceiling.
Germany, Europe’s leading economy, is struggling at the moment owing to
significantly weaker demand for its exports, and those problems have affected
eurozone partners, with which it does much of its trade.
For 2018 as a whole, Italy’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.9
percent
Populist policies by Italy’s coalition government have affected business
investment, while consumer confidence has slumped as well.
BSS/AFP/HR/0945