Senior Italian Banker Claims 1% Growth Within Reach In Event Of VAT Hike

The deputy governor of the central bank of Italy said during a budget hearing in parliament on Tuesday that the ambitious economic growth target of 1 percent in 2021 was still within reach if certain criteria were met

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2019) The deputy governor of the central bank of Italy said during a budget hearing in parliament on Tuesday that the ambitious economic growth target of 1 percent in 2021 was still within reach if certain criteria were met.

Luigi Federico Signorini said that the 1 percent growth mark was only possible if what he called "safeguard clauses" were implemented, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

These will see a value-added tax increase unless alternative measures are found.

The senior banker was quizzed by the Senate and House budget committees on the 2020-2022 budget bill, which assumed a 0.

6 percent growth in 2020. Signorini said the estimate was "acceptable" and "in line with previous evaluation."

Italy has been experiencing an increasingly stagnant economy, as has been the trend with southern European states in recent years. This comes against a backdrop of a general slowdown in the European economy, with Germany's behemoth manufacturing sector leading the dip in productivity, which has recently sparked fears of a pan-EU recession.