Weak income growth is one risk
impeding Italy's recovery from recession, the Bank of Italy said
Friday.
The Italian economy is slowly recovering from a
debilitating recession, but that recovery remains fragile, the
central bank said in a report on financial stability.
Household income declined slightly last year, although
conditions were better than 2012, the report said.
"In 2013 households suffered a smaller decline in
disposable income than in 2012; there was a reduction in debt
and a recovery in investment in financial assets," the report
said.
"Low interest rates and measures to support borrowers
helped to contain the vulnerability of indebted households".
It noted that the country's real estate market remains
relatively weak but exports are gaining strength.
In the first three months of this year, the volume of
mortgages was up by 9.3% compared to the same period in 2013,
but still was well below the level of 2011, according to the
report.
Quality was declining slightly.
At the end of 2013, there were nearly 319,900 mortgages of
which 6.2% had "deteriorated" while in June 2013 there were
341,000 of which 5.8% had "deteriorated," the Bank of Italy
report said.
The eurozone's third-largest economy began pulling out of
recession in the third-quarter of last year after enduring its
worst recession since the Second World War, the bank said.
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