Economic Note 29/2024 by T. Ferraresi e L. Ghezzi
After the shocks of recent years, the international macroeconomic framework is gradually moving toward a gradual normalization, aided by the stabilization of import prices for energy products and intermediate goods more generally.
The gradual return of inflation to values more in line with the targets of the major central banks has led them to make the first choices in an expansionary direction in the intonation of monetary policy, with the ECB much more cautious than the Federal Reserve.
On the currency front, the euro/dollar exchange rate remained relatively stable while gold prices rose sharply.
Compared to 2023, international demand for goods has shown signs of acceleration, both for advanced economies and especially for emerging economies.
Within this complex macroeconomic framework, Tuscany’s exports further accelerated during the second quarter of 2024, bringing the overall growth rate for the first half of the year to +10.2 percent. The Tuscan figure appears to differ greatly from that of the other main regions and, more generally, from the national average (-1.1 percent in the first half of the year), whose dynamics were much more restrained.
