ROME: Italy’s economy ground to a complete halt in the second quarter of 2016 in a huge blow for the country’s embattled Prime Minster and his fragile banking sector. Matteo Renzi pledged that financial growth would help to bring Italy’s debt-laden economy back from the brink of collapse. But now it’s been revealed the country’s economy stagnated between April and June in the lowest quarterly growth figure since emerging from a three-year recession at the beginning of last year.
The eurozone’s third-largest economy is looking increasingly close to crisis as banks battle to stay afloat amid around £270billion of bad loans – a third of the eurozone’s total. The leader is reportedly now set to beg Brussels to give him room put measures in place to prop up the economy.