ROME: Italy’s fragile economic growth has not been enough to boost real employment and has led to anger and populist sentiment, Italy’s former Economic Development Minister, Corrado Passera, told CNBC. Given that the recession has been so long, and given that the growth is not strong enough to create real employment, the social malaise is so wide that … certainly a very large part of the society is afraid of the future, is angry, is against the people that have managed the country in the last decades,” Passera, who was an independent minister under the Mario Monti government, said Thursday.
The social malaise that has been accumulated in this country, like in most other countries, is fostering populistic kind of political approaches in parties,” Passera said. He added that it was a “good piece of news” that the Italian economy has been growing but the rate is not enough to generate enough employment. “That’s the priority number one for the new government, no matter who wins the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, UBS estimates the Italian economy grew 1.5 percent in 2017, supported by domestic demand and trade. It also predicts that its fiscal position has improved, in terms of both deficit and debt.
