Italy's GDP to grow by 0.9% this year - Confindustria

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 17 - Confindustria's CSC research unit said Wednesday that it expects Italy's GDP to grow by 0.9% this year, which is significantly higher than the forecast of 0.5% it made in October.
    The government said it expects growth of 1% this year in its DEF economic blueprint but the IMF has said it thinks Italy's GDP will rise by only 0.7% this year and in 2025.
    Confindustria said that it sees the Italian economy growing by 1.1% next year.
    Its economists said an improvement in global demand that "will give a new impulse to exports".
    They said the prospect of falling interest rates and the effects of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) will be "two powerful stimuli for growth".
    The NRRP seeks to make the economy greener, more modern and less dependent on Russian fossil fuels thanks to close to 200 billion euros of EU grants and low-interest loans.
    But they added that "several factors are holding back growth", including electricity costs and "global transport bottlenecks", stressing that these do not only concern the Red Sea. (ANSA).