Italy posted negative inflation for
the fifth straight month in September with the retail price
index 0.6% down over the year, ISTAT said.
It was down 0.7% month on month, the stats agency said.
Annual inflation was -0.5% in August.
ISTAT's final, definitive figure for September was 0.1% down on
its preliminary estimate, which had been -0.5%.
The city with the highest inflation was Bolzano, with a rise of
0.8% in prices.
The city with the lowest inflation was Milan with -1.6%.
Inflation in Palermo was -0.7%, reflecting the trend in most big
Italian cities.
Farm group Coldiretti said fruit prices saw a record rise of 10%
in September.
The International Monetary Fund on
Tuesday raised its Italy GDP forecast for 2020 to -10.6%, from
June's -12.8%.
That is an improvement of 2.2 percentage points.
But the IMF cut its Italian growth forecast for next year.
GDP is now expected to rise 5.2% in 2021, 1.1 percentage points
lower than the 6.3% forecast in June.
The Italian government, in the latest update to its DEF economic
blueprint, sees GDP falling 9% this year and rebounding by 6%
next.
The Italian economy has taken an unprecedented hit from
COVID-19, like other leading world economies.
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