Between 18 September and 14 October 2008 the Bank of Italy’s branches conducted the 16th Business Outlook Survey, interviewing 4,170 firms with 20 or more employees, of which 3,066 non-construction industrial firms and 1,104 non-financial private service firms.
Main results
- there has been an increase in the number of firms that have downsized their plans to expand capacity this year and in those that expect to reduce their investment next year
- more than 40 per cent of firms report a deterioration in credit conditions and this tends to have a negative impact on the realization of investment plans
- the workforce is expected to remain virtually stationary during the year
- the partial tax relief for overtime pay is expected to affect over 30 per cent of workers covered by the survey and lead to an increase in overtime for around one third of them
- the proportion of firms recording losses is expected to rise from 11 per cent in 2007 to 17 per cent this year.
