China News Service, October 27. According to Euronet, citing EUN News Agency’s report on the 27th, Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings recently adjusted Italy’s sovereign rating outlook from negative to stable. Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Gualtieri said this welcome.
According to reports, Standard & Poor's stated that the views of rating agencies balance the negative impact of the new crown epidemic on public finances with the unconventional policy response of the European Central Bank.
S&P believes that despite the debt surge and severe recession, Italy’s borrowing costs are still at historically low levels, thanks to the European Central Bank’s huge bond purchase program aimed at supporting the euro zone economy.
Standard & Poor's believes that the support of the European Central Bank, the EU Recovery Fund's provision of approximately 12.5% of the GDP and loans on the condition of promoting growth reforms provide valuable time space and opportunities for Italy's economic recovery.
S&P pointed out that despite macroeconomic uncertainties, these measures provide the Italian government with an opportunity to restart economic growth and reverse the deterioration of budget performance.
However, Standard & Poor's also emphasized that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic on the economy, Italy's gross national product is not expected to return to the level of 2019 until 2023.
In this regard, Guardieri welcomed this, saying that it encouraged Italy to continue on a path of protecting its economy while ensuring a strong prospect of restarting growth.
According to reports, Italy’s public debt is second only to Greece in proportion to the Eurozone.
The country’s GDP for the second quarter of 2020 fell by 13% from the previous quarter.
Although there was a partial rebound in the third quarter, the economic recovery is still full of risks due to the second wave of epidemics.
(Huang Xin)