tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3949752.post-88343492954769825702008-04-28T13:39:00.001+02:002008-04-29T15:43:51.131+02:00Italian business confidence declined to its lowest level in more than two and a half years in April as slowing economic growth and euro appreciation weighed on orders. The Isae Institute's business confidence index fell to 86.9, the lowest since July 2005, from a revised 88.8 in March, according to the institute yesterday. <br /><br /><br /><a href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SBW3pwAyxkI/AAAAAAAAFVc/ypd7QbKI0LU/s1600-h/italy+business+confidence.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_ngczZkrw340/SBW3pwAyxkI/AAAAAAAAFVc/ypd7QbKI0LU/s320/italy+business+confidence.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194259673132484162" /></a><br /><br />The outlook for Italy's economy, Europe's fourth biggest, has steadily worsened while the euro has risen 12 percent against the dollar over the past year, and thus exports have struggled to compensate for weak domestic consumption. The European Commission yesterday forecast the Italian economy will grow just 0.5 percent this year, its lowest forecast for a euro-region country.Edward Hughnoreply@blogger.com