ROME: Italy’s national statistical service announced on Thursday that the economy surged at double the projected rate in the first quarter of 2017 by 0,4%.
Growth figures verify a series of positive signs for the Italian economy, including an inflation rate at 1,9%, suggesting a rebound on demand in an economy that has been trapped in long-sustained deflationary pressure.
Italy’s economy is heavily indebted with a debt-to-GDP ratio at 131%, double-digit unemployment (11,1%), and a banking system tormented by a huge burden of non-performing loans.
The news about the third largest economy in the Eurozone and the eighth biggest in the world was extremely welcome, with the Euro rising against all major currencies except the greenback.
The Eurozone economy as a whole surged by 0,5%.
