According to the survey conducted between 27 August and 17 September 2020 among Italian firms with 50 or more employees, assessments of the general economic situation improved. Opinions on their economic conditions became less negative; short-term prospects for total and foreign demand returned predominantly positive for the first time since the outbreak of the epidemic.
The overall assessment of investment conditions became less negative; compared with the previous survey, firms have revised upwards their investment plans for 2020, although they are still at lower levels than in 2019.
Firms in industry excluding construction and in services continue to expect a reduction in employment in the fourth quarter, but to a lesser extent than that expected in the first half of the year; those in the construction sector plan to expand further the number of employees.
Consumer price inflation expectations, while increased, remain low over all time horizons. For the next twelve months, firms expect to moderately increase their selling prices, which have remained unchanged over the past year.
