Family spending essentially at a standstill, sales collapsing for small shops and neighborhood shops. “The picture drawn by the latest Istat data is worrying – comments the president of Confesercenti Rimini, Fabrizio Vagnini -: the revision of the second quarter in fact outlines a clear slowdown in consumption, and the negative assessments on the dynamics of family spending are unfortunately also confirmed by the data on retail sales for August: for companies operating on small surfaces there is a drop of -0 .9%, despite the driving force of summer sales”.
In fact, in the new revision of the national accounts, household spending, on which the stability of the commercial structure depends, recorded a contraction in the first half of the year of 1.3% (+0.2% in the previous version).
“The total absence of the driving force of consumption is confirmed if we consider the data on retail sales: the data relating to August highlights a real drop for small shops, – 0.9% in value, while sales from large-scale retail trade grow by 3%”, notes Vagnini.
The increase in employment and family incomes does not yet translate into an increase in spending. “A situation of stasis and uncertainty from which the picture painted by the PSB (Structural Budget Plan) does not help to escapeand – continues Vagnini -, given that it does not place the need to give renewed impetus to the recovery of consumption at the center of the economic agenda. Declarations of a new austerity on the way could further slow down household spending, whose contribution to growth continues to decline”.
The share of consumption in GDP, in fact, further decreased in the second quarter of the year and is now equal to 56.9%, compared to 59.9% in 2014.
“For this reason, the next financial package will necessarily have to assign priority to supporting family incomes through taxation: the merging of the tax rates imposed on incomes and the confirmation of the cut in the contribution wedge are fundamental in this direction – comments Vagnini – and from the perspective of the Structural Budget Plan, Confesercenti also reiterates the need to intervene on the tax relief of salary increases deriving from contractual renewals, as well as to implement organic support measures for small commercial activities, to give certainties and expectations to families and businesses”.
