(Bloomberg) -- The outlook for the Italian economy is getting grimmer and grimmer.
Business lobby Confindustria said Wednesday it expects the country's output not to grow in 2019, slashing its October forecast for a 0.9 percent this year.
“Internal demand will be basically nonexistent this year, and a recession will only be avoided with an expansion of foreign demand, unless there will be a significant change of national economic policies,” Confindustria wrote in the report. The group forecasts 0.4 percent output growth next year.
Italy's consumer and manufacturing confidence fell more than expected in March, statistics office Istat said in a release Wednesday.
ECB Concerns
European Central Bank and government officials are also sounding alarm bells.
Earlier in the day, ECB governing council member Ignazio Visco said Italy needs structural reforms as the country is past the point in which simple economic relief is enough. Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said the government cannot tighten fiscal policy more because the country is in the middle of a recession and slowdown.
The Italian Treasury may cut its forecast for economic expansion this year to 0.1 percent, down from 1 percent targeted in December, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Wednesday. Under current legislation, this year's deficit would rise to 2.4 percent of GDP, up from a target of 2.04 percent agreed to with the EU in December.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chiara Albanese in Rome at calbanese10@bloomberg.net;Lorenzo Totaro in Rome at ltotaro@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Alessandra Migliaccio, Jerrold Colten
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