Italy economy to shrink over 8% this year: official
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ISLAMABAD ,Milan, Italy's economy is set to shrink 8.3 percent this year as the coronavirus crisis takes its toll, according to a forecast Monday by the National Institute of Statistics.
The eurozone's third largest economy is expecting its worst recession since World War II after a nationwide lockdown was imposed for more than two months to try to bring the pandemic under control.
The institute (ISTAT) said it forecast a rebound of 4.6 percent next year.
It was very difficult to quantify the impact of the "unprecedented shock" to the economy, ISTAT said, and its forecasts were subject to "a large decree of uncertainty compared to the past".
Others fear the lockdown fallout will be even worse. The Bank of Italy has forecast a drop in GDP of between 9.2 percent and 13.1 percent, while the European Commission expects it to fall by 9.5 percent.
The American investement bank Goldman Sachs is even gloomier, saying Italy's economy will shrink 14 percent.(AFP-APP)
