The latter accounted for about two thirds of the increase in the interest rate differential between Italian and German sovereign bonds at the height of the sovereign crisis in 2011. We may now say that Italy is coming out of the worst economic crisis of its history as a nation.
From 2008 to 2013, as a result of a double-dip recession, GDP fell by almost 10 percentage points, industrial production by about a quarter, investment by 30 per cent, and consumption by 8 per cent. Fiscal consolidation, even if pro-cyclical, was necessary to regain the trust of markets and to convince our partners of the country’s resolve to address its imbalances.