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Italian GDP posts 0.2 pct growth at Q3

Xinhua, November 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

Italian gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2015 increased by 0.2 percent compared to the second quarter, lower than expected, national statistics institute Istat said on Friday.

In the same period, GDP rose by 0.9 percent in comparison with the third quarter of 2014, Istat added.

The year-on-year rise, Istat noted, was the highest since the second quarter of 2011. Yet the 0.2 percent growth was lower than the 0.3 percent expected following a 0.3 percent increase in the April-June period and a 0.4 percent rise in the January-March one.

According to the Rome-based institute, a rise of 0.8--0.9 percent in the last quarter would be needed to meet the government's goal of a 0.9-percent annual growth.

"A good fourth quarter is needed," Italian economy ministry economist Riccardo Barbieri was quoted as saying by Italian media commenting on the Istat data.

However, Barbieri noted, the GDP figures did not include the service sector and also underestimated the impact of fewer working days. "We believe the first forecast would be raised to 0.3 percent," he said.

Meanwhile, the Italian central bank also on Friday said the country's public debt rose by 7 billion euros (7.5 billion U.S. dollars) to 2.192 trillion euros (2.355 trillion U.S. dollars) in September.

Italy continued to be the eurozone's country with second-biggest public debt after Greece.

Local business associations said they were disappointed by the Istat figures. According to the confederation of enterprises Confcommercio, the insufficient GDP growth was a "negative surprise" for Italy, though "between the end of the current year and the first months of 2016, there could be a significant acceleration of recovery that could bring GDP above government estimates."

Massimo Vivoli, president of national retailers' association Confesercenti, was more pessimist. He estimated it will take as many as five years to get back to pre-crisis levels. Endit