Economic developments in Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the year 2005Update

In the first six months of 2006 regional manufacturing firms recorded an acceleration of demand, especially in the domestic component; industrial production grew more slowly than sales, with a decrease in stocks of finished products. Businessmen expect the expansion to continue. The upswing in fixed investment in industry that began in 2005 continued, with a further increase projected for 2007. The unemployment rate fell to 3.2 per cent and recourse to the Wage Supplementation Fund also declined. Between June 2005 and June 2006 the growth in lending was driven by consumer households, with a high rate of increase in both mortgage loans and consumer credit. The expansion in lending to firms was braked by weak credit demand from manufacturing industry, set against a further increase in lending to the construction industry and service firms. Overall loan quality improved: the ratio of bad debts to total loans decreased slightly. Banks’ fund-raising from consumer households accelerated, while there was a contraction in securities deposited with banks that involved almost all the main types of financial instrument.