Italy’s gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink by not much more than 8% this year, Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Wednesday, reiterating that output in the third quarter would show “a strong rebound”.
National statistics bureau ISTAT reported this week that Italy’s coronavirus-ravaged economy shrank a record 12.8% in the second quarter from the previous three months, following a 5.5% contraction in the first quarter.
The government forecast in April that full year GDP would come in at -8%. The Bank of Italy subsequently forecast negative growth of -9.5% and the International Monetary Fund -12.8%.
“The -8% figure was given when we didn’t know how long the lockdown would last. GDP will be worse than -8%, but not that much,” Gualtieri told a parliamentary commission.
