A client's passes her jewellery to a worker at the "Affide" pawn shop in Rome, Italy, May 13, 2020. Italian pawn shops have seen a sharp increase in the number of clients over the past few months, as Italians suffer the economic drawbacks of the rigid lockdown the government imposed to curb an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Picture taken May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Cristiano Corvino
ROME (Reuters) - Massimiliano Barrotta is seeing a surge in customers coming to sell their gold in his Rome store as Italians feel the economic pain of their government's lockdown, imposed to curb one of the world's worst COVID-19 epidemics.
The eight-week shutdown has been gradually eased since May 4, but it has left an economy on its knees, with businesses laden with debt and tens of thousands of new unemployed. The European Commission expects Italy's economy to shrink by nearly 10% this year.
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