Italian March deficit grows in March but lower YTD

Italian deficit grows in March but still down in Q1.

Italian deficit cutting progress took a step back in March as the deficit in the month was 19.6B euros compared to 18.95B a year earlier.

But it's likely due to a shuffling of the calendar rather than a failure of austerity policies. Through Q1, the state sector budget deficit was 23.45B euros, down 8.8B euros from the same period last year.