Italian industrial production beats expectations

Rome, May 10  Italy's industrial output rose a better-than-expected 0.4 percent in March from the previous month and climbed 2.8 percent year-on-year, national statistics agency Istat said on Wednesday.

Capital goods output registered the biggest monthly rise in March, gaining 2.4 percent, alongside a 2.3 percent increase in the production of consumer goods, the Istat figures showed.

March industrial output was up most sectors with only the energy supply, wood and paper goods and mining sectors showing a decrease.

Industrial production fell a quarterly 0.3 percent in January-March but grew 1.6 percent from the same quarter of 2016, Istat said.

Italy's central bank has forecast a meagre 0.2 percent growth in January-March for Italy's gross domestic product, which has lagged recent industrial output and business confidence indicators. 

Istat will issue preliminary first quarter GDP data on 16 May.

Italy suffers from chronically low economic growth and although the country has exited recession, the government predicts GDP to increase by just 1.1 percent this year.