Families' purchasing power rises in Italy as taxes drop

01 ottobre 2015

2 min di lettura

(AGI) Rome, Oct 1 - Incomes are rising in Italy and families'purchasing power in Q2 is growing due to a lower inflationrate. This has not occurred since 2007, i.e. before thefinancial crisis. Also, public accounts have improved and,while still high, the tax crunch is decreasing. According toIstat (The Italian statistics agency), purchasing power hasrisen by 2 percent compared to the previous quarter, and by 1.1percent compared to Q2 in 2014. The last time such high figureswere recorded was in the second quarter of 2007, when there wasa 3.5 percent increase. In the first six months of the year,the income available in real terms (including inflation),compared to the same time in 2014, rose 0.8 percent. Also,consumption expenditure has increased, picking up 0.7 percentin Q2 compared to the previous quarter, and 0.8 percentcompared to the same month in 2014. Families' savings forretirement, measured by the net of seasonal factors, accountedfor 8.7 percent, thus dropping by 0.2 percent compared to theprevious quarter, but picked up 0.5 percent compared to thesame quarter in 2014. Italian families' investment ratesdropped to 6 percent, shedding 0.1 percent compared to theprevious quarter and 0.2 percent compared to the second quarterin 2014. Good news was delivered on the public accounts' front.The net indebtedness of public administrations in Q2, inrelation to the GDP (rough figures), has dropped to 0.9percent, shedding 0.2 percent compared to the same quarter in2014. On average, in the first two quarters, the deficit/GDPratio dropped to 3.2 percent, increasing by 0.3 percentcompared to the same time the previous year. The primarybalance, indebtedness net of liabilities, has been positive,with a 4.2 percent effect against the GDP, unvaried compared tothe second quarter of 2014. The current account balance hasalso been positive with a 2.9 percent effect over the GDP,against 2.7 percent in Q2 of 2014. Although the tax burden isat 43.2 percent, dropping 0.1 percent compared to the sameperiod last year, it remains high. On the whole, the tax burdenhas remained stable at 41.1 percent during the first 6 months.According to Adusbef and Federconsumatori, Istat figures arestill overestimated. Italian consumer association Codacons alsodisputes the figures, saying that the purchasing power offamilies is far from pre-crisis times, and emphasizes it willtake 11 more years to recover from the losses in citizens'purchasing power.. .