ROME, April 6 (Reuters) - Italy has downgraded its growth estimates for this year and next and confirmed a previous 2022 budget deficit target of 5.6% of national output, according to a draft government document seen by Reuters.
The Treasury's annual Economic and Financial Document (DEF) forecasts gross domestic product will
grow in 2022 by 3.1%, down from a 4.7% projection made last autumn, the draft shows.
For 2023, the government sees GDP rising by 2.4%, down from the previous target of 2.8% set in September.
The deficit is targeted at 3.9% of GDP in 2023, unchanged from the previous goal.
The new forecasts are set to be approved by Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government later on Wednesday and will form the preliminary framework for the 2023 budget.
The public debt, proportionally the highest in the euro zone after Greece's, is targeted in the DEF at 147.0% of GDP this year, down from a previous 149.4%, and is set to decline to 145.2% in 2023, the draft showed. (Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)