ROME — Mario Draghi’s government expects Italy’s virus-hit
economy to grow by 4.1 percent this year and 4.3 percent in 2022, three sources
close to the matter told Reuters ahead of official publication of the new forecasts
next month.
اضافة اعلان
The 2021 forecast is a steep downward revision from the 6
percent growth that had been penciled in by the previous government of Giuseppe
Conte, which collapsed in January, while the 2022 projection is above Conte’s
target of 3.8 percent.
Both forecasts remain above those of the European
Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the Bank of Italy, which all
currently see Italian growth below 4 percent this year and next.
Italy’s economy, which shrank by a post-war record of 8.9
percent in 2020, is still struggling under the weight of the coronavirus
pandemic. Much of the country remains in lockdown to try to tame a third wave,
with around 20,000 new infections a day.
Italy has reported around 108,000 COVID-19 deaths, the
seventh highest tally in the world.
The new growth forecasts, along with updated public finance
targets, will be contained in the Treasury’s Economic and Financial Document
(DEF) to be published by mid-April.
This forms the preliminary framework for the 2022 budget and
must be sent to the European Commission for approval.
The forecasts are subject to ongoing government discussions
and could still change marginally before their publication, the sources
cautioned.
Moreover, they are based on an unchanged policy scenario and
so do not include the impact of a new stimulus package which the government
intends to present next month.
The final growth targets will therefore be more ambitious,
the sources said, also helped by plans to strengthen Italy’s Recovery Plan in
order to obtain more than 200 billion euros of EU funds.
Italy has consistently underperformed its European partners
over the past two decades, with a long tradition of missed GDP targets. The
last time it registered growth of more than 4 percent was in the late 1980s.
Repeated hikes to government spending to support the economy
will probably drive Italy’s budget deficit close to 10 percent of national
output this year from 9.5 percent in 2020, a Treasury official told Reuters
this month.
This forecast will also be issued in the DEF and will mark
an upward revision from the previous estimate of 8.8 percent.
The extra borrowing will also increase Rome’s huge public
debt, the second highest in the euro zone after that of Greece and equal to
155.6 percent at the end of last year.
.jpg)
.jpg)
