-Govt Now Sees 2001 Growth Around 2.6%-2.7%, Deficit-GDP Around 1.0%
ROME (MktNews) - Italian Treasury Minister Vincenzo Visco on Saturday confirmed that this month the government is to officially raise its target for the 2001 public deficit-to-GDP ratio to around 1.0% from 0.8%, and lower its 2001 GDP growth forecast to 2.6% or 2.7% from 2.9%, Italy's main newspapers reported Sunday.
Speaking to reporters in Stockholm following the EU summit, Visco was asked to confirm newspaper reports that these would be the revisions to the government's objectives when it publishes a forecasting document, the so-called 'first quarter cash report,' later this month.
"Yes, those are more or less the right figures," Visco was quoted as saying by the financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore, having pre-announced "a reduction of the (2.9%) growth forecast by a few tenths of a percentage point, and a consequent re-assessment of the deficit target."
Last year posted growth of 2.9%, a shade above the government's 2.8% forecast, and a deficit-to-GDP ratio, net of UMTS revenues, of 1.5%, compared with a government target of 1.3%.