The survey conducted in March 2017 on a sample of Italian firms with 50 or more employees shows widespread improvement in the assessment of the general economic situation and a moderate upward revision of consumer inflation expectations at all horizons.
The majority of firms expect demand for their products to grow further, while opinions regarding current demand and investment conditions are more varied. Over the next 12 months firms expect their prices to grow at a similar rate to the one reported for consumer inflation; this trend is primarily bolstered by the expected increase in the prices of raw materials and, to a lesser extent, in the cost of labour and intermediate inputs.
Increasing investment plans for 2017 are overall confirmed, even if construction and services firms are less optimistic.
