Italy's Midsummer Dream: Shaking Off Sick Man of Europe Label
By Lorenzo Totaro
13 augustus 2017 09:37 CEST 14 augustus 2017 02:00 CEST
Report Wednesday may show 10th straight quarterly GDP growth
Italy still lags behind euro-area peers in post-crisis rebound
Italy is working hard to shake off the sick man tag.
Through government tensions, bank rescues and a migrant crisis, business sentiment has improved and the economy managed to maintain consistent growth after multiple false dawns. A report on second-quarter economic expansion this week is expected to top off a streak of encouraging numbers ranging from the labor market to exports.
Yet, the country still has challenges from a drought that hit farming and -- longer term -- a less favorable monetary policy and elections next year that may produce a hung parliament.
Gross domestic product probably rose 0.4 percent in the three months through June, economists forecast, matching the pace of the previous quarter. That gain would boost expectations that full-year growth could top 1 percent for first time since 2010, helping the economy regain ground lost in the financial crisis of a decade ago.
Italy’s recovery from a record-long recession is still lagging behind growth in euro-area peers Germany, France and Spain, while the economy faces more uncertainty in the coming months. Elections are due in the first half of next year and about the same time the European Central Bank is expected to start rolling back its stimulus, progressively reducing its purchase of Italy’s government bonds.
Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has downplayed the effect of less expansionary monetary conditions, telling SkyTg24 television on Aug. 3 that the economy is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates and bond yields.
According to UniCredit SpA economist Loredana Federico, a 0.4 percent quarterly growth pace would help Italy reduce its debt ratio, which at more than 130 percent of GDP is the second highest in the euro area. “It would certainly allow it to weather the possible difficulties of higher debt-financing costs” as quantitative easing ends, she said.
On the Mend
Last month, the International Monetary Fund said Italy could grow about 1.3 percent this year, 1 percent in 2018 and 0.9 percent 2019. Recent economic reports supported the view that the economy is on the mend.
A measure of private-sector activity is near the highest in a decade, and industrial production expanded a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent in the second quarter. Unemployment fell to 11.1 percent in June, matching the lowest since 2012.
“Industrial output is a bellwether of broader activity and the expansion in the second quarter is consistent with economic expansion of about 0.5 percent,” Bloomberg Intelligence economists including Maxime Sbaihi said in an Aug. 9 note.
Exports Rise
Exports rose in the second quarter as stronger sales of goods and services to other European Union nations offset a drop to the rest of the world. An unfavorable exchange rate, with the euro up about 12 percent against the dollar this year, could weigh on global demand.
The summer season had opened with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni’s government orchestrating the rescue of three lenders, including the world’s oldest, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, that required months of negotiations with European Union authorities. The moves will alleviate another burden on the nation’s economy.