The cost of living crisis caused by
spirally energy and food bills will create half a million 'new
poor' in the poorer south of Italy, southern Italy development
agency Svimez said in its annual report Monday.
This will be out of a national total of 760,000 newly
impoverished Italians, it said.
The rise in the new poor will be 2.8% in the Mezzogiorno
compared to 0.3% in the north and 0.4% in the centre, said
Svimez.
The southern Italian economy will contract by 0.4% next year
while the national economy will grow by 0.5%, it said.
The centre and north will see a 0.8% gain in GDP.
Svimez called for renewal of measures against the energy squeeze
and "major moves to relaunch investments".
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