2023-04-17 10:09:00
Consumer price inflation continued to slow markedly in Italy in March. Inflation stood at 7.6%, according to final data published on Monday, April 17 by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat). It had reached 9.1% in February and even 10% in January.
The March level is also slightly below the provisional estimate which was 7.7%. Over one month, consumer prices even fell, yielding 0.4%, according to these revised figures.
The inflation index calculated according to the harmonized standards of the European Union (IPCA) is however higher than the national rate, reaching 8.1% in March over one year, once morest 9.8% in February.
Food drives prices up
Inflation slowed thanks to the lull in energy prices, while the prices of unprocessed food goods accelerated their progression, explained Istat.
The prices of regulated energy goods have indeed fallen by 20.3% over one year, following falling by 16.4% in February. The prices of unregulated energy goods slowed their rise to 18.9%, once morest +40.8% the previous month.
Conversely, however, unprocessed food products accelerated their rise (from +8.7% to +9.1%). Just like the prices of cultural and personal care services (from +6.1% to +6.3%) and tobacco (+1.8% to +2.5%).
Higher inflation than in the euro zone
Despite this general decline, inflation in Italy remains higher than that of the euro zone, which fell to 6.9% in March, thanks to the brake on energy prices. If the trend is positive, the persistence of inflation shows that the battle to bring it back towards the 2% per year target will still be a long one for the European Central Bank (ECB), which should continue to increase its interest rates. interest.
However, this is not without risk: on the one hand, that of plunging the economy into recession while the European Union should experience weak growth this year. And, on the other hand, to destabilize a little more a banking sector under surveillance following the bankruptcy of the American bank SVB and the rescue of Credit Suisse.
In Italy, inflation should in any case come down to 5.3% this year, following reaching 8.7% in 2022, according to the latest forecasts from the Bank of Italy. And the IMF recently revised its growth forecast for the country in 2023 slightly upwards, to 0.7% (+0.1).
21 billion expected over the year
Faced with this persistent price rise, the government of Giorgia Meloni adopted new measures at the end of March to help families and businesses cope with the high cost of living, particularly in the energy and health sectors, for an amount of 4.9 billion euros. euros. The Council of Ministers notably extended for the second quarter the reduction of VAT on gas to 5% and reductions on gas and electricity bills for low-income families.
Companies will be able to continue to benefit from tax credits until the end of June, if they have recorded an increase in their gas and electricity bills of more than 30% in the first quarter.
The government has also decided to release 1.1 billion euros for health, a sector which in Italy falls within the competence of the regions.
In total, the government of Giorgia Meloni plans to allocate more than 21 billion euros this year to support households and businesses in the face of rising energy prices.
(With AFP)
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