However, there was some improvement compared to the previous survey.
A survey by the Bank of Italy found that the assessment of Italy’s general economic situation and expectations regarding the business performance of companies in the first quarter of this year remained overall unfavorable. However, there was some improvement compared to the previous survey. Nine out of ten companies declared that their liquidity conditions were at least sufficient.
The slight recovery in opinion is due to a moderate recovery in domestic demand and an easing of negative conditions for investment, particularly in the services sector, with expected stabilization of investment spending.
At the end of the year, the deterioration in public opinion regarding credit access across all sectors eased, with nine out of 10 companies declaring their liquidity situation at least adequate. The central bank said in a release that businesses expect employment growth to continue in the first quarter of 2024.
Corporate pricing trends continue to weaken and are expected to weaken further over the next 12 months.
Around two-thirds of companies expect their employees’ hourly wages to rise in the next 12 months, and almost one-third declare they have already factored future pay increases into their 2023 price lists.
Consumer inflation expectations have fallen sharply across all time periods, settling at just below 2.5% in the short term and just above 2% over the long term.
The overwhelming majority of survey respondents still see little or no chance of a turnaround in the business cycle between January and March this year, roughly in line with last quarter.
The improvement in sales was due to domestic demand, but external demand remained weak.
The gap between companies planning to hire and companies expecting to cut staff has widened slightly since the previous survey, to between 8 and 11 points.
In the fourth quarter, the proportion of companies reporting difficulties related to energy prices remained stable in all industries except construction and services. However, the percentage of companies planning to raise sales prices in the next quarter in response to rising energy costs has decreased from the previous survey, and has decreased significantly compared to the same period last year.
Consumer price inflation expectations fell sharply across all periods, returning to the same level as in the second half of 2021, just above 2%.
The average consumer price inflation rate will be 2.4% after six months, down from 5.1% in the previous survey, 2.3% after 12 months (4.7% in the previous survey), and 2.1% in two years (down from 4.7% in the previous survey). 4.7%). 4.2 percent previously) and 2.1 percent for the 3-5 year period (previously he was 3.8 percent).
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)