(ANSA) - Rome, April 19 - Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Tuesday that Italy's recovery will consolidate in 2016 after the economy emerged from recession in 2015. "After three consecutive years of contraction, the Italian economy returned to growth in 2015 and in 2016 growth will continue and will consolidate," Padoan told a parliamentary hearing on the government's economic blueprint, the DEF. He said that the "employment (level) is improving, the public finances are improving, the tax-to-GDP ratio is coming down". He added that Premier Matteo Renzi's government should get credit for this, thanks to its "rigorous fiscal policy, expansive measures and structural reforms", which he said will continue despite a deterioration in the international climate.
Italian GDP is forecast to grow by 0.3% in the first and second quarters of 2016 "with a confidence interval of between 0.1% and 0.5%", president of the national statistics agency Istat Giorgio Alleva told a hearing on the government's economic and financial blueprint (DEF) Tuesday. "However, in view of these predictions, to reach the target of 1.2% growth contained in the DEF, further acceleration of economic activity in the second half of the year would be necessary," Alleva added.
The government must pursue reform aimed at addressing the structural weaknesses of the Italian economy in order to reduce debt, State Audit Court President Raffaele Squitieri said during a parliamentary hearing on the economic and financial blueprint (DEF) on Tuesday.
In the DEF "the government confirms the strategy followed in recent years, aimed at reconciling economic stabilisation and the need to tackle debt, a process in which the contribution that can come from strengthening operators' expectations is decisive," Squitieri said. "This leads to confirmation of the need to pursue reforms aimed at attacking the structural weak points of the Italian economy," he added.