Business confidence in the eurozone’s third largest economy in May plummeted to its lowest level since official statistics institute ISTAT started the index in March 2005.
Business federation, Confesercenti, said in a statement that the figure was “alarming”.
“The health and economic emergency has swept businesses away, especially in shops, services and tourism,” it said.
As of May 30, Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte acknowledged that while the reopening of the Italy posed a risk of the second wave of coronavirus, it was, however, needed.
The country “must accept it’’, he said while speaking at a virtual press conference.
Italy was the first European country to be hit by the pandemic and imposed a strict two-month lockdown which paralysed much of the country’s economic activity.
As a result, the country is set for a drop in GDP of between nine and 13 per cent, the Bank of Italy said on Friday.
Data also showed that the economy shrank 5.3 per cent in the first quarter – worse than the 4.7 per cent initially estimated.
It had not seen such an “exceptional” decline in the first quarter since 1995, ISTAT said.
This year’s losses could amount to €170 billion, equivalent to the GDP of Veneto, Italy’s third biggest industrial region, a Mediobanca study said.
The head of the country’s main business confederation Cofindustria, Carlo Bonomi, said that up to a million jobs could be threatened nationwide.
“We’re waiting for figures at the end of May but indications are that between 700,000 and a million jobs are in danger,” he said.
“Jobs are only created if there is growth, innovation, investment.
“The car manufacturing crisis can’t be solved with subsidies or furloughing.
“You solve it by looking to the future, by investing in new technologies.”
Italy is set to be the main beneficiary of a European Union €750 billion recovery plan but it still may not be enough.
