As Italy plans this October to widen its deficit, the stock markets are reacting strongly, anticipating further economic troubles ahead. On October 6th, doitinvest.com argued for a (very) long view on Italy’s shares. At the time the FTSE Italy All Shares index was at 22,455. Today, as the new budget (which goes on a collision course with EU’s rules) lands in Brussels, the index went down to 19,705. It reflects a substantially gloomier macroeconomical outlook for Italy’s Q4 – something that nobody wants of course, the least Italy’s government. Yet, the latter seems decided to push its’ agenda until the end of the discussions, with the prime minister Mateo Salvini complaining that “everyone is taking shots at us”. Well, with some uncoordinated fiscal policies in sight, the markets have reacted – badly.
Still, the question remains – how long will the recovery take?