Premier Matteo Renzi said
Thursday that despite economic shocks, including Italy's return
to recession, his government will continue with its reform
programs and economic strategies as planned.
"I have decided to go ahead with conviction and
determination, with calm and serenity," he said in Naples.
Pressure has been building on Renzi to hasten his program
of economic and structural reforms, given the country's economic
problems.
Last week, statistics showed that Italy returned to
recession in the second quarter - the country's third in five
years.
The country is also struggling with falling demand and
consumer confidence amid rising unemployment.
Renzi went on to say that Italy is not an economic problem
country, saying its return to recession is part of broader
trouble throughout the eurozone.
"There is no crisis situation with respect to Italy," he
said. "The whole eurozone is experiencing stagnation".
National statistics agency Istat last week reported that
Italy has slipped into its third recession since the start of
the global economic crisis in 2008, with a 0.2% drop in GDP in
the April-June period making for a second consecutive quarter of
negative growth after a 0.1% decline in the first three months
of the year.
It was a big blow for Renzi. It means that the 0.8% GDP
growth that the government had forecast this year - the basis
for its various budget calculations - looks set to be some way
off the mark.
Indeed, Renzi has said Italy's deficit-to-GDP ratio for
2014 will be 2.9%, above the government's target of 2.6% but
below the 3% threshold allowed by the EU.
But that data was put in context on Thursday by Eurostat,
which said eurozone growth was flat in the second quarter.
Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) actually fell 0.2%
in the second quarter compared with the first three months of
the year, while France's economy was stagnant.
"They were saying that Italy was the problem of the
eurozone until a few days ago, but that happened because we
published our data early," Renzi said.
"Now I've asked Istat for us to present the figures later
too".
The premier added said the European growth figures
vindicated his campaign for the EU to focus more on promoting
growth and job creation after years of painful austerity.
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