Italy’s economy grew 0.9% in 2023, surpassing the forecast for 0.7% growth, according to the country’s statistics agency, ISTAT.

However, despite the marginal rise in growth, Italy’s deficit figure for last year came in at 7.2% of GDP.

The government had forecast a deficit of 5.3% for 2023, following on from the 8.6% deficit in 2022, Euro News reports.

Following on from the figures, Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Giancarlo Giorgetti said some of the blame was due to the “irresponsible” superbonus scheme, which aimed to help people undertake home renovations via tax subsidies.

Indeed, Italy’s Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, has said the initiative is responsible for destroying public finances.

It was originally launched by Giuseppe Conte’s government back in 2020.

Looking forward, the Minister of Economy and Finance said that “public finances will embark on a path of reasonable sustainability from 2024.”

In addition, the country’s statistics agency published inflation data for Italy at the end of last week, which showed that prices rose by 0.8% year-on-year last month, and 0.1% over the month, the Euro News report goes on to add.

The items that fuelled the monthly increase the most included tobacco products and services linked to transport and communication.

Moreover, core inflation, which doesn’t take into account net energy costs and food, revealed a 2.4% year-on-year rise, a fall from 2.7% in January.

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices, an adjusted figure utilised to compare inflation throughout the eurozone, revealed a yearly rise of 0.9% and a monthly uptick of 0.1%.