The head of Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina, said on Friday he was "in total disagreement" with forecasts of a disastrous year ahead for the Italian economy, in the latest show of optimism by a banking executive.
Messina's comments come after other CEOs including UniCredit boss Andrea Orcel, Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna and the head of BNP Paribas in Italy, Elena Goitini, said in recent weeks the Italian economy had so far proven more resilient than expected to the energy shock.
"I hear from really a lot of people catastrophic forecasts about the future of our country in 2023. I am in total disagreement," Messina said in the text of a speech.
"We face a complex scenario, no doubt about that, because we need to mitigate the impact of what is happening on the needy ... We certainly need to help them, bearing in mind that a recovery over the course of 2023 will take us to a 2024 of growth."
Messina said that even the most pessimistic forecasts projected a contraction of no more than 1.0-1.5% for the Italian economy in 2023, which compared with the 9% drop in gross domestic product caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Reuters
Image source: Intesa Sanpaolo
