According to the survey conducted between 20 May and 10 June 2024 among Italian industrial and service firms with 50 or more employees, the balance between positive and negative opinions regarding the general state of the economy worsened slightly in the second quarter of this year (see the left-hand panel of the figure), though more than two thirds of firms still believe that economic conditions remained stable. Demand is still positive in services and construction, but continues to be
negative in industry excluding construction. The outlook for sales in the third quarter is positive, especially in services and construction; employment is expected to grow across all sectors.
Assessments of credit access conditions point to overall stability, thus signalling that the tightening underway since 2021 has come to a halt, while those of investment conditions are still negative as in the previous survey. The balance between expectations of an increase and those of a decrease in investment spending in 2024 remained nevertheless positive, though it narrowed considerably in manufacturing.
Consumer price inflation expectations are virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, standing at 1.4 per cent over time horizons of up to three years (see the right-hand panel of the figure). Firms' selling prices slowed further and so did their expected rate of change over the next twelve months.
