Passera says Italy will grow out of recession next year

Italy's gross domestic product should bounce back up as high as 2.5% in 2013 from current recessionary levels, Industry Minister Corrado Passera said Monday. "We remain convinced that next year, our country can overcome the recession," Passera said during a telephone interview from a conference in the Umbrian captial of Perugia. Reforms passed by the government of Premier Mario Monti will kick in next year, "strengthening the development plan of the country," he added. That will help lift the Italian economy from its current recession to GDP growth of between 2% and 2.5%, said Passera.