Italy Staff Report for the 2014 Article IV Consultation

Judicial efficiency could be improved by promoting mediation and enhancing monitoring of court performance. Greater efforts to combat corruption would strengthen the business environment. Implementing reforms simultaneously could be self- reinforcing and generate significant growth synergies. A grea...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: International Monetary Fund European Dept
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. International Monetary Fund 2014
Series:IMF Staff Country Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: International Monetary Fund - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
LEADER 04584nmm a2200661 u 4500
001 EB000936445
003 EBX01000000000000000730041
005 00000000000000.0
007 cr|||||||||||||||||||||
008 150128 ||| eng
020 |a 9781498383516 
245 0 0 |a Italy  |b Staff Report for the 2014 Article IV Consultation 
260 |a Washington, D.C.  |b International Monetary Fund  |c 2014 
300 |a 68 pages 
651 4 |a Italy 
653 |a Fiscal stance 
653 |a Credit 
653 |a Public debt 
653 |a Banks 
653 |a Finance 
653 |a Public finance & taxation 
653 |a Industries: Financial Services 
653 |a Banks and banking 
653 |a Fiscal Policy 
653 |a Economic statistics 
653 |a Debts, Public 
653 |a Mortgages 
653 |a Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data 
653 |a Money 
653 |a Macroeconomics 
653 |a Banking 
653 |a Econometrics & economic statistics 
653 |a Depository Institutions 
653 |a Data Access 
653 |a Monetary economics 
653 |a Financial institutions 
653 |a Debt Management 
653 |a Micro Finance Institutions 
653 |a Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit: General 
653 |a Debt 
653 |a Fiscal policy 
653 |a Nonperforming loans 
653 |a Sovereign Debt 
653 |a Loans 
653 |a Banks and Banking 
653 |a Statistics 
653 |a Public Finance 
653 |a Money and Monetary Policy 
710 2 |a International Monetary Fund  |b European Dept 
041 0 7 |a eng  |2 ISO 639-2 
989 |b IMF  |a International Monetary Fund 
490 0 |a IMF Staff Country Reports 
028 5 0 |a 10.5089/9781498383516.002 
856 4 0 |u https://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2014/283/002.2014.issue-283-en.xml?cid=41925-com-dsp-marc  |x Verlag  |3 Volltext 
082 0 |a 330 
520 |a Judicial efficiency could be improved by promoting mediation and enhancing monitoring of court performance. Greater efforts to combat corruption would strengthen the business environment. Implementing reforms simultaneously could be self- reinforcing and generate significant growth synergies. A greater push to clean up banks’ bad loans is needed to support lending in the recovery. More provisioning and write-offs; a private distressed debt market; and enhanced insolvency regime would accelerate the reduction of NPLs. Improved corporate governance and deeper capital markets would support growth and financial stability. A broad strategy to revive the SME sector would complement efforts to strengthen bank balance sheets. This strategy should promote restructuring support for viable, but distressed firms and a quick exit for those that are non-viable. A new fiduciary loan contract and greater sharing of credit information could support alternative financing for new endeavors.  
520 |a KEY ISSUES Unleashing Italy’s Potential The economy is struggling to emerge from a prolonged balance-sheet recession… Tight credit conditions, weak corporate balance sheets, and deeply-rooted structural rigidities continue to weigh on domestic demand. The high level of public debt and membership in a currency union highlight the importance of tackling these structural weaknesses. …and the risks are tilted to the downside. External risks arise from geopolitical tensions, while Italy’s high public debt, large public financing needs, and elevated NPLs leave the economy vulnerable to financial contagion and/or low growth and inflation. Without meaningful reforms, potential growth is projected to remain low. Deep structural changes are urgently needed to secure a recovery and unleash Italy’s growth potential. Moving to a single labor contract with gradually increasing protection would reduce duality.  
520 |a  Fiscal policy needs to strike a delicate balance between setting the debt ratio on a downward path while helping the economy recover. To support growth, the priority should be to lower marginal tax rates through spending savings and lower tax expenditures. But given the low growth and high interest rate environment, stronger fiscal balances are needed to bring down debt faster. Conditional on the recovery taking hold, a modest structural surplus next year would be appropriate. Policies at the European level could also support growth by easing further monetary conditions should inflation remain too low, and reducing financial fragmentation