Italy's growth was 0.9% in 2016, ISTAT confirms

(ANSA) - Rome, March 1 - Italy's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.9% in 2016 compared to the previous year, ISTAT said on Wednesday, confirming the estimate the national statistics agency gave last month. The growth rate is a slight increase on the 0.8% registered in 2015, after the agency revised its figure for the latter from 0.7%. The 0.9% growth rate is also higher than the 0.8% given in the government's budget-planning document last autumn. The GDP rise registered in volume terms last year took it just above the level registered in 2000, the agency said. Italy's deficit-to-GDP ratio for 2016 was 2.4%, down from 2.7% in 2015, ISTAT said. That figure is in line with the estimate in the budget-planning document. The tax-to-GDP ratio dropped to 42.9% in 2016, down 0.4 of a percentage point from 43.3% in 2015.
    But the debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 132.6% in 2016, up from 132% in 2015, ISTAT said.