EU's Moscovici gloomier than Italy on consumption, investments

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union Commissioner for Economic Affairs Pierre Moscovici said on Thursday the EU executive's economic forecast on Italy's growth were less optimistic than that of the Italian government.

He told a news conference that the difference was mostly caused by "more prudent" estimates on Italian consumption and investments and on higher debt-servicing costs than Italian forecasts.

In 2019, Italian GDP would rise 1.2 percent, the Commission said, instead of the 1.5 percent seen by Italy and in 2020 it would rise 1.3 percent, rather than the 1.6 seen by Rome.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Jan Strupczewski)