Introducing the official figures, the Italian economy has suffered its second quarter of negative growth in the past nine months, which has fuelled fears about being in recession.
According to official figures, the Italian economy fell by 0.3% during the second quarter (April-June period), reaching the worst economic decline in a quarter in almost five years.
Although for many reducing the economy indicate a recession, officially considered for this there should be two consecutive quarters of decline, something that prevented Italy to grow 0.5% in the first quarter of 2008.
Besides being a great blow to the country, these figures also raise expectations on a future negative for Europe, whereas Italy has the third largest economy on the continent.