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Berlusconi meets trade unions over extraordinary financial measures

Business Materials 11 August 2011 03:01 (UTC +04:00)
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met on Wednesday with the country's leading labor and industrial lobbies over the extraordinary financial measures the government is ready to implement to fend off a debt crisis, Xinhua reported.
Berlusconi meets trade unions over extraordinary financial measures

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met on Wednesday with the country's leading labor and industrial lobbies over the extraordinary financial measures the government is ready to implement to fend off a debt crisis, Xinhua reported.

Berlusconi said urgent actions needed to be immediately undertaken in order to shield Italy from the risk of a debt crisis currently looming over Europe and boost growth.

In a bid to reassure markets, Berlusconi announced that the 70-billion-euro budget plan approved by parliament in July will be strengthened with a new decree holding additional anti-crisis measures as requested by the European Central bank (ECB) in an extraordinary cabinet summit to be held by Aug. 18, before the institutional summer break.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti, who also took part in the meeting, acknowledged that the financial outlook had worsened in recent days and therefore the budget plan "needed a thorough restructuring" because "anything could happen still," he warned.

Milan Stock Exchange closed with heavy losses on Wednesday as the main FTSE Mib stock index was sharply down 6.65 percent to 14,676 points, the lowest since March 2009, according to local Ansa news Agency.

Tremonti has outlined the new tightened budget goals: deficit down to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 as against an earlier objective of 3.9 percent, while in 2012 at 1.5-1.7 percent of GDP from an earlier 2.7 percent estimate, until an eventual balance in 2013.

Trade unions expressed their worries that the extra measures might heavily cut down on pensions, salaries and social welfare services.

"We must find additional resources as the ECB demands of us but this must be done through equity and justice," warned Susanna Camusso, leader of the largest workers union CGIL.

Berlusconi last week promised to bring forward the austerity budget plan a year ahead of the original schedule to achieve a balanced budget by 2013 instead of 2014.

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