Europe is facing slower growth as a result of protracted financial turbulence and spillovers from the U.S. Meanwhile, inflation has risen sharply. Policymakers in advanced economies will have to continue to support financial markets and balance risks to real activity with the need to anchor...

Europe's contraction is ending, but the recovery is fragile. Policymakers should look beyond the crisis to secure a durable upswing and address the threats to potential growth from the crisis and the continent's well-known structural rigidities. The report's analytical work stresses the...

Traditional fiscal indicators focused on measures of current deficits and debt miss the potentially important implications of current policies for future public finances. This could be problematic, including in the case of Europe, where population aging is expected to pose additional fiscal...

This paper reviews economic developments in Italy during 1995–96. The performance of the Italian economy in 1996 was characterized by a marked decline in inflation and a strengthening of the external position, accompanied however by lackluster growth. The slowdown in economic activity was more...

This Selected Issues paper describes stylized facts, institutions, and directions for reform in the Italian labor market. The paper examines developments in aggregate features of the labor market. It highlights that during the latest cyclical recovery, total employment has remained stagnant and...

This paper reviews developments in the Italian economy during 1994 with some special attention to some specific issues. It describes trends in the real economy, with special annexes focusing on the outlook for inflation and the response of employment to cyclical and structural factors. The paper...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

Based on the economic literature, various policy measures and institutions in the product and labor markets that increase growth and employment are studied. From a cross-country approach, this study finds a significant relationship between Vertical Fiscal Imbalances (VFIs) and fiscal performance...

Italy’s economic development after the recession is analyzed in this study. Earnings were hampered by low net interest and high loan-loss provisions, but banks remained profitable. A large and stable retail funding base and ample collateral to access eurosystem refinancing helped Italian banks...

The paper assesses the degree of banking competition and efficiency in Italy?over time as well as compared to that in other countries, such as France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The paper finds competition in the Italian banking sector has intensified in loan and...