Italian consumer confidence fell to the lowest since July 2015 as the government is forced to cut its economic growth forecasts for this year and next. Manufacturing confidence rose.
The consumer gauge measured 108.7 in September down from a revised 109.1 the month before. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 12 analysts called for a reading of 109.0 this month. Manufacturing confidence rose to 101.9 this month from 101.1 in August, statistics agency Istat said in Rome on Wednesday.
The Treasury sees gross domestic product expanding 0.8 percent this year, compared with an increase of 1.2 percent predicted in April. It also targets slower-than-expected growth next year, with GDP expanding 1 percent compared with a previous estimate of 1.2 percent. Public debt is seen rising to 132.8 percent of GDP this year and falling to 132.2 percent in 2017, after the government previously predicted a decline in the debt load for both years.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (pictured) faces the difficult task of maintaining the budget discipline required by the European Commission while restarting an economic recovery that came to a halt in the second quarter.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
