Italy fears fall in autumn  

Italy awaits a €209bn EU stimulus package next year and the fears are rising that the recovery will may come too late to save businesses. From tourism to manufacturing and construction to food production, Italy’s economy has suffered a catastrophic blow from the Covid-19 pandemic. First detected in late February, it has since killed more than 35,000 people and infected a quarter of a million.

Italy’s GDP dropped by 12.4pc between April and June, the second quarter of the year. The

health emergency has wiped out about 30 years of growth.

“It has taken the country back to levels of GDP of the early 1990s,” says Federico Santi, a Europe analyst with Eurasia Group.