“Europe is moving from below zero growth to below normal growth”. In other words: for Europe the worst is over, but the recovery will be slow and modest, and for Italy it will arrive only in 2014. This is the analysis that Standard and Poor's entrusts to a study on the economic scenario of the Old Continent .
"The recession in Europe, the longest for 40 years, may have bottomed out in the second quarter", writes S&P which expects a stabilization in the second half of the year and "a modest acceleration" in 2014, but "with weak foundations for growth".
For the Eurozone, estimates point to a drop in GDP of 0,7% this year, followed by growth of 0,8% in 2014 and 1,3% in 2015. For Italy, Standard and Poor's a 1,9% drop in GDP is expected this year followed by a 0,5% increase next year and +0,9% in 2015.
This is the weakest trend among the major European countries taken into consideration by the rating agency: Spain's GDP is in fact estimated to drop by 1,5% this year but then recover by +0,5% in 2014 and 1,1% in 2015. For Germany the forecasts are respectively +0,4%, +1,6% and +1,7%, while for France after zero growth this year the projections point to +0,7% in 2014 and +1,4% in 2015.
