Italy’s 2011 Deficit Narrows More Than Expected to 3.9%
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Italy’s budget deficit narrowed more than economists forecast last year as spending cuts and tax increases helped shore up public finances even with the economy slipping into a recession.
The shortfall fell to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product from 4.6 percent in 2010, Rome-based national statistics office Istat said today. The 2011 reading was less than the 4 percent median forecast of 6 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Economic growth last year slowed to 0.4 percent, topping a 0.3 percent forecast, from a revised 1.8 percent the previous year.