Italy Economy Real Time Data Charts

Edward Hugh is only able to update this blog from time to time, but he does run a lively Twitter account with plenty of Italy related comment. He also maintains a collection of constantly updated Italy economy charts together with short text updates on a Storify dedicated page Italy - Lost in Stagnation?


Thursday, April 20, 2006

Italian Consumer Confidence Slides

This doesn't really surprise me, especiaññy with all the uncertainty surrounding Italian political life in the wake of the elections.Italian consumer confidence in fact declined to a six-month low:

An index based on a poll of 2,000 households by the Isae Institute fell to 106.1, its lowest level since October, from a revised 109.1 in March. Isae prepared the report in the first two weeks of the month, straddling the April 9-10 election.

The premium, or spread, that investors demand to buy Italy's benchmark 10-year bond rather than the German bond of similar maturity widened to 32 basis points today, the highest in more than 4 years. A basis point is 0.01 percent point.

``Investors and consumers alike are going to be looking for as much clarity on the situation as possible as soon as possible,'' said Antonio Cesarano, an economist at MPS Finance BM in Siena, Italy.

Under Berlusconi, Italy's $1.7 trillion economy slipped into recession twice in two years, and growth is set to lag behind that of the euro region for a fifth year in 2006. Berlusconi managed to draw almost even in the vote by convincing the public that Prodi's plans to stimulate the economy and tame the deficit would require higher taxes.



For those who can read Italian the ISAE survey can be found here.