The S&P agency confirms Italy's BBB rating with a positive outlook.
S&P states this.
S&P cuts Italy's growth estimate for 2022 to 3.1% from the 4.4% initially forecast.
"Italian growth is slowing down," says S&P, expecting a deficit of 6.3% this year.
"By the end of June, the Italian government hopes to finalize the reforms of justice, public procurement and competition. S&P believes that these reforms will unlock the inflows of Next Generation EU funds worth more than 2% of GDP per year. between 2022 and 2026, offsetting the risks to growth deriving from the Russia-Ukraine conflict ", states in an S&P note, predicting" for 2022 a general government budget deficit equal to 6.3% of GDP, assuming that the measures introduced at the end of 2021 to mitigate the energy shock remain in force at least until the end of this year ".
"The increase in energy prices has pushed inflation in Italy to the highest levels of the last 30 years,
complicating the ECB's efforts to normalize monetary policy;
high inflation provides some fiscal benefits and is linked to S&P's projection of a sharp decline in debt over GDP this year, "the note continues." This outlook reflects the broad pro-growth reforms that the Italian authorities are implementing as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
These aim to improve the Italian business environment and the effectiveness of the judicial system, reduce bureaucracy, increase participation in work and finance investments in renewable energy - adds S&P -.
In the long term, the reforms - and their funding under the PNRR - should mitigate the risks to the
S&P confirmed Great Britain's rating at 'AA' with a positive outlook.
This was stated by the rating agency, cutting the growth estimates to 3.5% for 2022 compared to the + 4.4% expected in December.
Inflation is expected to settle at 6.3% this year, a 30-year high.