(Finance) – They worsen in the fourth quarter of 2024 i business reviews in Italy on the general economic situation, while expectations have decreased for consumer inflation. The Bank of Italy reports this based on the results of the quarterly survey, which it conducted between 20 November and 12 December 2024 among Italian industrial and non-financial services companies with at least 50 employees.
In companies’ assessments, demand has weakened, in particular that coming from abroad and that aimed at the services sector. The outlook for its short-term operating conditions is overall unfavorable; they affect youeconomic-political uncertainty and, to a more limited extent, fears about the price trend of energy raw materials and, especially among exporting companies, on policies regarding international trade.
Businesses foresee an expansion in investments in the first half of 2025, although they continue to consider the conditions for investing to be unfavorable. The conditions of access to credit are valued unchanged and the overall liquidity position is still considered satisfactory. Most businesses plan to keep theirs unchanged workforce.
The growth of prices sales has stabilized at low levels in services and industry in the strict sense; in construction it decreased, however remaining more sustained than in the other sectors. In the next 12 monthswe read in the analysis, “the dynamics of the price lists would remain substantially stable in all sectors, in the face of expectations of salary increases contents. Businesses’ expectations for consumer inflation have declined across all time horizons.”