In the euro area, the worsening of the economic situation has a feature common to all the main countries: the weakness of investments. In the second quarter of 2014, Germany, France and Italy reduced the value of investment spending by 5 billion euros.
In Italy, the cut affected public investments with particular intensity. From 54 billion euros in 2009 we dropped to 38 billion in 2013. In recent years, the Italian public administrations have reduced the amount of their investments by over a third.
In Italy, the few public investments are accompanied by an inadequate level of infrastructure. Of the 17 kilometers of railway network, only 5,4% is high-speed, while in France it reaches 6,7% and in Spain 13,5%. The delay also affects the technological sector: optical fiber is still not widespread and the average speed for downloading data reaches levels equal to just over half of those in France.
The creation of new public investments in the infrastructure sector today seems to be the most suitable measure to favor the return to growth of the Italian economy. The International Monetary Fund devoted an entire chapter of the latest World Economic Outlook to the importance of increasing infrastructure spending. However, the success of these interventions is linked to the efficiency of the investments made. Both the higher growth achieved in the short term and the extent of the boost given to future development potential depend on this, but also the maintenance of public finances in balanced conditions.
