The price of unleaded fuel drops to its lowest average price in 11 months. Meanwhile, house prices rise by 5.2% compared to last year.
The average price of unleaded petrol at Italian self-service pumps has dropped under the €1.70 per litre mark. This is the lowest level in almost a year, according to figures released by specialist publication Quotidiano Energia (QE) on Monday.
QE said the average price was €1.696 compared to €1.709 on Friday. The last time it was lower was early in October 2021.
House prices rise
ISTAT said on Monday the prices of houses bought by families in the second quarter were up by 5.2% with respect to the same period last year. Compared to the first three months of 2022 it has risen by 2.3%, according to preliminary estimates.
ISTAT said a 12.1% year-on-year rise in the price of new homes, the biggest since 2011, was the driving force of the increase.
Last week, the Italian government approved a €17million aid package for the cost-of-living crisis.
Economic outlook
Also last week, the Italian retailers’ association Confcommercio said Italy’s economic outlook is set to deteriorate. It forecast the country is likely to have a “mild” recession due to soaring energy prices.
Confcommercio’s research unit forecast that Italy’s GDP would drop 0.8% in the third quarter of this year with respect to the previous three months. Following that they expected a further moderate drop in the last quarter.
That would put Italy technically in recession with two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Despite that, Confcommercio expects Italy’s GDP to end the year 3% higher than in 2021, with flat growth next year.
