Italy to Contract More Than Government Forecasts, Istat Says

Italy’s economy will contract this year more than the government forecasts as falling domestic demand and investments extend the country’s fourth recession since 2001, the national statistics institute said.

Gross domestic product will decline 1.5 percent in 2012 before rising 0.5 percent in 2013, Istat Chairman Enrico Giovannini said in Rome today, according to the text of a speech to present the institute’s annual report. Household consumption and corporate investment will both decline this year, 2.1 and 5.7 percent respectively.