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Industrial lobby: Italy economy still has problems

Industrial lobby: More businesses will fail in Italy in 2009 but crisis is bottoming out

On Saturday August 15, 2009, 10:24 am EDT
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ROME (AP) -- The economic crisis appears to have bottomed out, but some Italian businesses can be expected to fail in the rest of this year, the head of Italy's powerful industrial lobby said in an interview published Saturday.

Timid growth in the economies of Germany and France, as indicated by figures released earlier in the week, "means we have finally hit the bottom" of the meltdown, Emma Marcegaglia, who leads Italy's Confindustria, told Turin daily La Stampa.

"But the crisis isn't behind us. To get production levels back to pre-crisis times will take years," Marcegaglia was quoted as saying.

She predicted Italy in 2010 will have "a better year then the Spanish and the English can expect, but worse than that of Germany."

Speaking of Italy's businesses, which often are medium-scale and not infrequently run by families, Marcegaglia added: "We need to be aware that we'll still have cases of businesses shutting their doors in September," when many factories and other companies gear up production after summer vacation.