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Italian GDP up 0.3 pct in Q1, officially out of recession

Xinhua, May 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2015 rose 0.3 percent compared to the previous quarter, national statistics institute Istat said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The institute's preliminary estimate is the highest rise since the first three months of 2011 and signals the country is officially out of the recession, according to local media.

Earlier this month, Istat said Italian industrial production also rose 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2015, the biggest quarterly rise since the end of 2013, though was 0.1 percent down against the first quarter of 2014.

Istat has recently revised its 2015 GDP estimates to 0.7 percent, in line with the government's three-year economic and financial plan that was approved last month.

Istat's upward revision was 1.2 percent in 2016 and 1.3 percent in 2017, slightly down when compared to the government's estimate of 1.4-percent and 1.5-percent growth.

The Rome-based institute also forecast an improvement in Italy's beleaguered labor market, which currently stands at 12.7 percent.

Istat pegged the unemployment rate to go down to 12.5 percent at the end of 2015 and between 11.4 percent and 12 percent over the 2016-2017 period.

Local analysts said the predictions resulted from an improved international situation, citing factors such as oil prices, the euro to U.S. dollar exchange rate, and the impact of the European Central Bank (ECB)'s quantitative easing (QE) program.

The structural reform agenda carried out by the center-left government of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi as well as an expected increase of investments and household spending by 1.2 percent and 0.5 percent respectively this year were also among the positive economic drivers. Endit