July 30th, 2010
As the world's seventh-largest exporter, Italy was supposed to emerge from the economic crisis when the rest of the world did. How's that working out? In a word, it could be better. In 2009, Italy's GDP decreased by 5%. It is expected to grow modestly, by 0.8%, this year, and by ...
July 29th, 2010
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met on Friday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss bilateral ties and pave the way for further trade agreements. Berlusconi praised the excellent state of relations between the two countries. "Italy and Russia have always enjoyed a special friendship and this is proven by the ...
July 28th, 2010
All five major Italian banks passed EU banking stress tests on Friday, with capital reserves above the level needed to resist severe financial shocks, the banks announced separately on Friday. Italy's two biggest banks, Unicredit and Intesa San Paolo, weathered the tests best, boasting respectively at 7.8 percent and an 8.2 ...
July 27th, 2010
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition backed down on a controversial wiretaps bill Thursday as its deputies approved a watered-down version in a parliamentary committee vote. The initial bill would have banned the publication of transcripts in the media and called for up to two years in jail and fines ...
July 26th, 2010
Perhaps it smacks of desperation but it is a great opportunity for wealthy property investors as Italian officials draw up a list of palaces, beaches and islands that could be put up for sale. The Italian government is considering selling hundreds of pieces of real estate to reduce its national ...
July 23rd, 2010
Italy is unlikely to face a credit rating cut after Moody’s Investor Service downgraded Ireland by one level, analysts said. “An Italian downgrade is not an imminent threat, not even in the medium term,” Ioannis Sokos, an interest-rate strategist at BNP Paribas SA in London said. “Italy is under stable outlooks ...
July 22nd, 2010
The Bank of Italy raised its growth forecast for Europe’s fourth-biggest economy this year, saying export gains will drive the recovery as rising unemployment weighs on domestic demand. Italy’s gross domestic product will expand 1 percent, more than the 0.7 percent predicted in January, the Rome-based central bank said today ...
July 21st, 2010
Results of European stress tests on banks will demonstrate that the capitalisation of Italian banks is well above minimum required levels, Mario Draghi, governor of the Bank of Italy, said on Thursday. Italy’s central bank and the Association of Italian Banks (ABI), which held its annual meeting on Thursday, both expressed ...
July 20th, 2010
Silvio Berlusconi's government survived a confidence vote on a controversial austerity package designed to shore up Italy's strained public finances. The vote means Italy has inched closer to finally approving the 25 billion euro ($32bn; £20.8bn) plan. It comes at one of the most testing times in Mr Berlusconi's premiership. The two-year plan, ...
July 19th, 2010
Portugal sold 1.68 billion euros (1.4 billion pounds) of government paper, more than expected, a day after Moody's rating agency downgraded the country's debt, with analysts upbeat despite the higher yields paid to investors. In a busy day of euro zone state bond auctions on Wednesday, Italy's sale of 6.8 billion ...
