Italy: Business confidence improves in March
Business confidence came in at 110.2 in March, up from February’s 109.2.
In March, sentiment in the manufacturing sector improved. Moreover, sentiment in the construction and market services sectors strengthened, as did confidence in the retail trade sector.
Commenting on the outlook, Paolo Pizzoli, senior economist at ING, stated:
“We now believe that the Italian economy will manage to post a minor positive quarterly improvement in the first quarter of the year. With the impact of past monetary tightening yet to hit the economy, economic developments over the rest of the year remain uncertain, though, with limited scope for substantial accelerations. Having said that, our current forecast of a 0.7% average GDP growth for 2023 is now subject to upside risks. “