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Italy in Deflation for First Time Since 1959

Italy in Deflation for First Time  Since 1959
Italy in Deflation for First Time  Since 1959

Italian consumer prices fell in 2016, the first year of deflation since 1959, official data published Wednesday showed, AFP reported. Prices slipped by 0.1% last year from 2015, according to provisional figures from the national statistics institute Istat. Italian consumer prices already showed their weakest increase in decades in 2015, rising by just 0.1%. Although inflation went negative in 2016, there was a pickup in prices towards the end of the year. In November they rose by 0.1% year-on-year and in December by 0.5%0, surprising analysts who had been expecting 0.3%. In November, Istat said it expected zero inflation in 2016 and 1% in 2017. Analysts at Intesa Sanpaolo said, however, that they do not expect price rises to exceed 0.8% this year. Meanwhile, Italy’s deflation shows a “dramatic situation” and highlights the need for a “change of pace” in government policy, consumer groups Federconsumatori and Adusbef said Wednesday. “We need investments to relaunch jobs and controls on price hikes,” they said.

 

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