(ANSA) - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi hailed positive economic growth figures on Thursday, saying they showed the country was pulling out of recession.
Between April and June 2005, Italy's economy grew by 0.7%, posting its biggest single quarter growth for over four years, national statistics bureau Istat said. The sudden spurt of growth followed two quarters in which the economy contracted first by 0.4% and then by 0.5%. Taking this into account, overall growth compared to the second quarter of 2004 was 0.1%.
"This shows that the Cassandras who say everything is going badly are wrong. It shows that the economy is holding up and that Italians are fighting back," Berlusconi said.
"We have reached a turning point and solid growth now appears within reach, despite the Left's daily attempts to create an atmosphere of pessimism."
A statement issued by Economy Minister Domenico Siniscalco's aides said the second quarter growth was "more than expected", adding that domestic demand was holding and exports rising.
"It's in everyone's interests to consolidate this result and turn it into a positive trend. The government will push ahead with its economic policy and strengthen it," the ministry continued. The positive result for the second quarter meant that GDP was down by 0.1% so far this year. Most independent research institutes predict that growth for the year will be close to zero.
Unions and the centre-left opposition were much less enthusiastic than the government and called for caution in the wake of the latest figures. "As long as we're talking about a few decimals, I don't
think you can say there's been a turnaround," said CISL union leader Savino Pezzotta. "It's better than nothing, but we mustn't delude ourselves."
"Certainly the second quarter figures are an improvement on the disaster of the previous two quarters," said Roberto Pinza, economic spokesman for the centre-left Daisy party. "But before we get carried away, let's wait to see if this trend is consolidated or if it's just a one-off," he added.
Earlier in the week, Standard & Poor's downgraded its economic outlook for Italy from 'stable' to 'negative' because of political uncertainties for the future. Italy is scheduled to hold general elections in the spring of next year.
The American ratings agency said that neither the centre-right, which is currently in power, or the centre-left opposition had presented "a cohesive strategy to address budgetary imbalances."
