IMF Warns Of “Global Contagion” From Italy’s Bank Crisis; Forecasts Two-Decade Long Recession

• IMF Warns Of “Global Contagion” From Italy’s Bank Crisis; Forecasts Two-Decade Long Recession
  by Tyler Durden, www.zerohedge.com  
  Piling on to Italy’s growing mountain of worries, this evening the IMF itself warned that Europe’s third largest economy would grow by less than 1% this year and only marginally faster in 2017, slashing its previous forecasts of 1.1% and 1.25% growth for the next two years, mostly as a result of the most convenient scapegoat available in Europe at the moment: Brexit (which has become to Europe as “cold weather” has been to the US for the past two years).
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  Christine Lagarde’s organization said Italy was “recovering gradually from a deep and protracted recession”, but said the healing process was likely to be “prolonged and subject to risks”. It used its article IV consultation – an annual economic and financial health check – to stress that Italy was vulnerable to a cocktail of threats that could have knock-on effects for the rest of Europe and the world.
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  The IMF dour outlook may be overly generous. While economists have been racing to downgrade Italy’s outlook since the British referendum, Italy’s own employers’ lobby Confindustria now sees growth of just 0.8% this year dropping further to 0.6% in 2017.  Italy, long one of Europe’s most sluggish economies, will struggle to close the gap with its peers even if recent reforms are fully implemented, the IMF report said.
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