Italians vote with their pockets

After the recent General Election, Italians only want one thing from Silvio Berlusconi…

According to a survey by the Digis research group, lowering the cost of living is what Italians who voted in the general election want most from the new government. Curbing the inflation rate - which hit a 12-year high in March - was top of the wish list for voters on both sides of the political divide, with 56% of Centre-right supporters and 65% of Centre-left supporters making it a priority.

For Italians who voted for Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party, emphasis on family values, cutting costs in public administration, help for businesses, security and justice were the next most important issues. Supporters of Walter Veltroni's Democratic Party placed cutting costs in public administration as the second most urgent task for the new government, followed by justice and family values, tied in third place. Help for businesses and security were last on the list.

These results come as no surprise after Inflation in Italy hit a 12 year high during March. Italy's inflation rate jumped from 2.9% in February to 3.3% in March, the highest since September 1996, national statistics bureau Istat said in its monthly preliminary estimate Monday.  The main results were as follows:

A spokesperson for Istat, said: The month-on-month rise in the consumer price index was an unusually high 0.5”. The Italian Union of industrialists Confindustria warned against alarmist reactions:  “Because the largest price rises are concentrated in a few strategic sectors of the economy, they do not represent an inflationary cycle, so there is no need to panic”.