Lorenzo Codogno of LC Macro Advisors..........>

ITALY: Lorenzo Codogno of LC Macro Advisors believes that the "improvement in

the Italian economy is well entrenched and forward-looking indicators point to

further acceleration over the coming months." He adds that the shaky political

situation is unlikely to spill into the expectations of the economy prior to the

elections. 

- However, in his final comment, he says that "Although a country in reasonably

good economic shape can live for a while with a caretaker government, as it

happened in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, this is not granted in Italy"

due to the high debt levels and lagging GDP growth. Thus a collapse in

confidence is still possible after the elections.