The Italian government on Wednesday lowered its growth forecast for 2023 from 1% to 0.8%, the Economic Affairs Ministry said.
For 2024, Giorgia Meloni’s government expects GDP growth of 1.2%, down from 1.5% in its April forecast.
These forecasts are included in the new economic roadmap adopted by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday evening, which is to serve as the basis for drawing up the 2024 budget.
“We are working on a draft budget under the seal of discipline and common sense,” Prime Minister Meloni wrote on Facebook.
The government has also raised its public deficit forecast for 2023 to 5.3% of GDP, up from the 4.5% previously expected, but much lower than the 8% recorded in 2022.
For 2024, it is expecting a deficit of 4.3%, higher than the 3.7% it was still predicting in its April forecasts.
At the same time, the government has sharply lowered its forecast for the public debt ratio, now expected to be 139.6% in 2026 compared with 140.4% in its April estimates and 141.7% in 2022.
