In 2017, the expansion of the economic activity of Lazio, driven by the favorable trend of trade with foreign countries, continued in line with the national trend; investments increased and the growth of employment favored the rise in household incomes and consumption.
Businesses. – The economic improvement affected all sectors with the exception of construction, where signs of weakness remain. The strong increase in exports, in particular for means of transport and pharmaceuticals, drove the growth of manufacturing companies; the services sector was favored by the good performance of tourist flows and by the consolidation of consumer spending. Investment activity strengthened, above all for metalworking and medium-sized companies, benefiting from the economic recovery, the low cost of credit and incentives. Business loans, virtually stationary during the year, began to decline again in the final months of 2017. The decline in loans reflects some extraordinary transactions by large companies in the region, net of which credit to the productive sector would have remained stable. The supply policies of the banks are characterized by generally relaxed conditions but remain selective: loans have grown for less risky companies while they have decreased for those with higher levels of risk. The more favorable trend in the economic situation contributed to the improvement in credit quality.
The job market. – In 2017, the employed increased more than the national average. The growth, which involved all sectors except construction, was driven by dependent employment, above all on fixed-term contracts, and was concentrated in older workers, aged 44 or over. The employment rate, given by the incidence of the employed on the population of working age, returned to pre-crisis levels and the unemployment rate decreased further.
The families. – The improvement in labor market conditions had a positive effect on household income and consumption, which increased to a lesser extent than last year. In the real estate market, the growth of transactions continued and prices remained essentially stationary. The low interest rates further favored the demand for household mortgages, which increased especially in the first part of the year, and directed financial investments towards asset management products; the expansion of consumer credit continued. Household debt as a ratio to income remains stable, on the values of the beginning of the decade, but higher than the national average, due to the higher debt aimed at buying a house.
The credit market. – At the end of 2017, credit to the non-financial private sector (households and businesses) decreased slightly: the positive trend in loans to households was balanced by the negative trend in loans to businesses. The quality of bank credit has further improved: the flow of new non-performing loans out of total loans has further decreased for businesses and remained at historically low levels for households. The share of non-performing loans remains high, but is declining due to the disposal of non-performing loans from bank balance sheets. The reduction in the number of banks headquartered in the region continued, following the mergers of cooperative credit banks.
Decentralized public finance. – In the 2014-16 period, the decline in current and capital account expenditure by local administrations continued, to a greater extent than what occurred in the average of the regions with ordinary statute (RSO); nevertheless, per capita expenditure continues to be above average. Approximately 40 per cent of the reduction in personnel expenses contributed to the decrease in current expenditure. In the same period, gross fixed investments, which represent a large part of the capital account expenditure of local administrations, almost halved, reaching around one billion euro.
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