Italy's latest Treasury forecast suggested that Italy's economy could contract in the third quarter of the year and continue to contract over the next two quarters.
The eurozone's third largest economy, hit by high energy costs and high benchmark inflation, is forecast to be headed for a technical recession that economists have identified as two consecutive quarters of falling GDP.
The economy held up better than expected in the first half of the year, and GDP jumped 1.1% in the second quarter of the previous three months, but the Treasury's economic and financial document published late Friday said the decline had already begun.
These projections present a grim inheritance for Georgia Meloni, who is widely expected to be appointed Prime Minister this month after leading a right-wing coalition to victory in the September 25 elections.
