Italy Achieves Soft Landing as Inflation Cools While Avoiding Recession

• Italy's inflation rate rose to 1.3% in March 2024, increasing from 0.8% but lower than anticipated 1.4% rise • Inflation has dropped over 10 percentage points since peaking at 11.8% in October 2022, well below euro area average • Demand cooling from higher interest rates has tempered inflation, with loans to households and businesses in contraction • Forecasts project inflation around 2% in 2024-2025, well below Eurozone average due to restrained wage growth • Italy has achieved a "soft landing" with moderated growth and controlled inflation, without economic downturn or rising unemployment