Growth forecasts disappointing, more needs to be done says Visco

(ANSA) - Rome, May 31 - Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said Tuesday that more needed to be done to strengthen the recovery as the country's growth forecasts are unspectacular.
    "The recovery still needs to be consolidated," he said.
    "The forecasts indicate that Italy will not return to pre-crisis income levels in a short period of time. The assessments of our economy's potential growth are disappointing.
    More can be done and must be done". The volume of non-performing loans of Italian banks must be taken into serious consideration, although the entity of the problem should not be overestimated, Visco said.
    Visco also said that non-performing loans are a ''legacy of a long and deep recession'' and that the country is at a ''turning point'' and the ''normalization trend is continuing''.
    European regulators are aware that the reduction in exposure to impaired credit can only be gradual, he also noted.