Italy’s largest retailers association Confcommercio released the outcome of a study about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the country’s economy.

The first fact that emerges from the study is that Italy will suffer the pandemic’s negative consequences for months to come.

Confcommercio estimates that the Italian GDP will have fallen more than 17 percent in the second quarter of 2020 with respect to the first and by almost 22 percent compared to the same period last year.

Retailers linked to leisure were the hardest hit, suffering a 90% drop in business. Next were hotels, bars and restaurants, down over 60%, and clothing outlets, down 55%.

The Italian government is considering slashing value-added tax to help the recovery from the economic earthquake that followed the COVID-19 crisis.

Later on Monday also the Industrial employers’ confederation Confindustria published its estimate on the Italian economy announcing that it will have contracted 9 percent in the second quarter of this year, about 8 percent less than the estimate of retailers association Confcommercio.

Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco has argued that it is hard to make forecasts given the state of Italy’s economy due to the Covid-19 crisis.

SOURCE: PRESS TV