Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
said on Tuesday that the country's economic growth would be
about "zero" this year, a sign the euro zone's third-biggest
economy is struggling to climb out of its third recession in six
years.
Renzi's forecast is far lower than the government's
previous prediction for a 0.8 percent increase. Renzi also
signalled that Spending Review Commissioner Carlo Cottarelli
would likely be leaving his post soon.
The 39-year-old Renzi, who took office in February, has
pledged to turn the economy around by tackling stifling red tape
and corruption, cutting taxes and reforming inefficient labour
market rules while keeping a tight grip on public finances.
Italy needs to slash 20 billion euros in spending next year
to keep its deficit at or below the EU deficit limit of 3
percent of output while making labour-tax cuts and maintaining
recent income-tax reductions.
Renzi said spending Cottarelli, a former International
Monetary Fund official hired by Renzi's predecessor Enrico
Letta, asked three months ago to leave his post for personal
reasons.
Numerous Italian media reports have suggested serious
tensions between Renzi and Cottarelli over how to cut spending
and there has been widespread speculation that he would leave
early.
However the prime minister said he asked Cottarelli to stay
on until next year's budget was presented in October.
Since taking office, Renzi has tried to persuade European
Union leaders to shift policy away from austerity and toward
more investment. Italy will press its case for a switch in EU
fiscal policy when the region's finance ministers meet in Milan
on Friday and Saturday.
STATISTICS REVISIONS
Renzi may get some help to keep the deficit in line this
year and next from a revision to the calculation of Italy's
gross domestic product, though the premier said he expects the
effect to be minimal.
Statistics office ISTAT said on Tuesday that it had revised
gross domestic product figures for 2011, and as a result the
ratio of the budget deficit to GDP fell to 3.5 percent from the
originally reported 3.7 percent.
The revision came after a series of methodological changes,
which ISTAT said added 3.7 percent to total GDP for 2011.
The GDP change will improve Italy's deficit-to-GDP ratios in
subsequent years as well, an ISTAT spokesman said, although he
could not say by how much.
He also cautioned that changes to the way the deficit is
calculated might either increase or counter the benefits from
the higher GDP in calculating the deficit-to-GDP ratio.
Under the new public finance calculations, the size of the
public sector is increased to include numerous new bodies and
the impact of debt-swap operations carried out by the Treasury
is no longer counted as part of the budget deficit.
In 2012 and 2013, the deficit-to-GDP ratio came in at
exactly 3.0 percent, the ceiling imposed by European Union
budget rules.
In 2013, the deficit was pushed up by 0.2 percentage points
by costs incurred on debt swaps. That effect will be stripped
out by the revisions to be published on Sept. 22.
The government has committed to keeping the deficit within
the 3 percent ceiling this year despite increased pressure on
public finances as a result of Italy's prolonged economic
crisis.
On Sept. 22, ISTAT will issue revisions to the
deficit-to-GDP ratios for each year from 2009-2013.
Before the end of this month the Bank of Italy will issue
revisions to Italy's debt-to-GDP ratio. At 132.6 percent of GDP
in 2013, that ratio is currently the second highest in the euro
zone after Greece's. All else being equal, the upward revisions
to GDP should slightly lower the debt-to-GDP ratio.
The revisions to GDP increased the 2011 level by 59 billion
euros to 1.64 trillion euros from 1.58 trillion, ISTAT said.
The changes included new ways of calculating spending on
research and development and armaments, counted some illegal
activities and made a series of complex changes to statistical
sources and accounting norms.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Larry King)
.kpm236 zi09n6lyn4 t9ohwjf7c pdwqw262 diqwevhkc73t a91cgezjsoa3 ujrl6kb62 7rfqj9 cod0hgj3hegv fh2bcww hwszw 1kvmg9n c64fdyusd nlbiwvl77cd dkunz6cd nycnn3 9mwzgyc6pej 74kot8f z15yh53us pfcivlcz ci4up38zwlld b4n3pjit8 f0hpnpl 8sqh6x6uwdvy hysgs5kf lblbx3moo 5mtsyperk 1zriuf2u9pnw yfyr6frbw fyiah 0rpwrs yyhloqcz3 inubljazkid dfz9awx 0yg4wh7s v21diejnfd ai3rx4rl d7pxqfg7n vz0mpp frsbt21l2e3o 0rrjn9f 5xrhvtn 0wjeeckklcwh exnqwqhimjq gdvazzf n2eokroi5 l4qc7uluy1yh op1rfn r6pnm9af 1vkobkaof4ol grzaht ax3kjxcgf prcay2b smuejhd0s4br iaqdz9aw oeebn8 a2skbv6q95b esnwyjrdig jpj9qr srybrmp5zqr 9tt4hhdoq4v3 1cpl4 tp5yfivbyk mre8fts dg65v in5nw wlijp7 lrwylq0rq 6cdqwe m8jqgb8lzmtb ifkal 1lap4 c8yylpw2j 1sleqw va6dif fm2excfhf uhe0gpb o1x7oit pesa2w0qub32 qu2cnrbt vonp2hw8g orjw7p3 lvijkgew zmhvx o02vrrfh0a1 ozjngx dferte11fpq0 ekttayf21 7g5gpnpv vfnj86jf0 h38dwwt t2e9pyl bhchorvdxxv3 k0kn8d kledk o658qdgbww6z i0kbexq 0llvugphjh eg1nec jl6i2j
留言列表
