Bank of Italy. PNRR, key reforms and digitization of economic growth

• Bank of Italy: growth beyond expectations, + 6% in 2021

• Bank of Italy: new record of public debt, in July 2,725.9 billion

• Bank of Italy: household expectations on the economy improve with April, but low incomes

• Bank of Italy: GDP accelerates in the summer, + 5.1% in 2021

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04 November 2021 From the analysis of the economic dynamics in 2020 and in the first part of 2021, the

appears to be improving, mainly due to the recovery of exports. This is the result of the report "The economy of the Italian regions. Recent dynamics and structural aspects", prepared by the Bank of Italy and presented to the press and also published on the website of the institute in Via Nazionale. Furthermore, in the first half of 2021, compared to last year, the

Italian

it has grown everywhere, more pronounced in the North West and in the South. The net balance between companies born and terminated in the first half of the year shows a significant recovery in all macro areas. 

The rapid expansion of remote work following the explosion of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all areas of the country. The use of remote work was more frequent in the Center and North and mainly affected employees. This is what emerges from the Bank of Italy report. 

The freezing of redundancies for economic reasons extended the permanent contracts in the South to a relatively longer extent. In the weeks following its removal, layoffs increased moderately, especially in the South. In August, the layoff rate returned to subdued levels in all areas. This is what emerges from the report "The economy of the Italian regions. Recent dynamics and structural aspects". Furthermore, up to August there was a growth in employment driven by the tourism sector.

From the second quarter of 2021 the number of employees has grown in all macro areas of Italy. The recovery in labor demand continued until August, mainly driven by the tourism sector, especially in the South. The favorable trend in services has prompted the creation of job positions for women and young people up to 24 years of age.

The Bank of Italy study, in the report on regional economies, contains a box focused on the level of territorial digitization. The effectiveness of the individual interventions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "will also depend on the starting conditions of the territories" and "among these, the degree of digitalisation of local economies will have a transversal and decisive role". The establishment of Via Nazionale notes that digitalisation is "an indispensable factor to support innovation and the competitiveness of its production system and to promote skills and social inclusion".

The sore point that emerges from the Bank of Italy report is that: "The levels of digitization of the Italian macro areas are heterogeneous and in any case below the European average. The southern regions show a strong delay, particularly marked in digital skills". Among the five different components of the territorial digitization index, only the one that evaluates connectivity, both for the coverage of the networks and for the diffusion among families, is overall similar on the national territory. The use of the internet by citizens is higher than the average of the central regions. The integration of digital technologies into the production processes of companies is better in the North West regions. Finally, the component that evaluates e-government reaches maximum values ​​in the North East,both in the offer of digital public services and in the use of the same by citizens. 

lending

In the twelve months ending June 2021, the increase in lending to businesses slowed down in the North and, to a lesser extent, in the South, instead, it stopped in the Center. This is what emerges from the report 'The economy of the Italian regions. Recent dynamics and structural aspects'. Credit to households, we read again, has returned to expand at rates similar to those pre-pandemic in all areas of the country. 

The slowdown for 

, notes in the report the Bank of Italy, followed the strong expansion of loans observed in 2020. In June 2021, credit growth in the South remained high especially for service companies, only loans to companies increased in the Center and in the North, loans to manufacturing and service companies continued to rise, while loans to construction companies remained substantially stable. As for

, the expansion of loans was supported both by mortgages, due to the persistence of low rates in the historical comparison and due to the improvement in household confidence, and by consumer credit, characterized by a net increase in the amount average of financing for the purchase of motor vehicles.

The situation of #consumes and #incomes of Italian families in 2021 according to the analysis of the #ERIT report "The economy of the Italian #regions", published today on the #Bankitalia website

👉 https://t.co/E0IgBnsjz1#economieregionale pic.twitter.com/BW5riplPnA

- Bank of Italy (@bancaditalia) November 4, 2021