Inflation up to 8% if Russian gas halted - Bank of Italy

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 8 - The Bank of Italy said Friday that Italy's annual inflation rate would rise to around 8% this year if the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine led to a complete halt in gas supplies to Italy from Russia, before dropping to 2.3% in 2023.
    It said inflation would be 5.6% in 2022 and 2.2% next year in the intermediate scenario and 4% and 1.8% respectively if there is a fast resolution to the conflict.
    "In the current context of extremely high uncertainty, even more unfavourable scenarios cannot be excluded," the central bank said in a report.
    It said Germany and Italy were the countries with the "greatest reliance on raw materials from Russia" and they "could be among the hardest hit, directly and indirectly through global value chains, by a block on exports to Russia". (ANSA).