Italy’s Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, under pressure for new budget cuts from his eurozone partners, said he would call an emergency cabinet meeting to press ahead with reforms.
“Tomorrow I will call a cabinet meeting because I wish to take advantage of this situation to see if we can advance measures I was unable to implement up until now due to differences within the majority,” Mr Berlusconi told presspersons yesterday.
Mr Berlusconi was pressed at a summit with his European Union counterparts to fulfil promises to cut Italy’s huge debt and prevent it from being sucked into the eurozone crisis.
Before the summit even began, Mr Berlusconi held face-to-face talks with the EU President, Mr Herman Van Rompuy, and later with the German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel, and the French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy.
“We have to reassure investors and reassure other States,” Mr Van Rompuy told presspersons. “Clearly, we are asking for a major effort on the part of the Italian authorities and I think they are ready to do it.”
With another EU summit on the eurozone debt crisis scheduled for Wednesday, Mr Van Rompuy said leaders would work “hand-in-hand” with Mr Berlusconi in the coming days to make sure Rome “implements what it promised.”
Ms Merkel called for Italy to act credibly to reduce its colossal €1.9 trillion debt, equal to 120 per cent of its gross domestic product.