Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that his government would resign if a 24.9-billion-euro (31.5-billion-U.S.-dollar) austerity budget loses a confidence vote in parliament, Xinhua reported.
"To place the confidence vote over the budget has been an act of courage. If lost, we will go home," he was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.
"The latest economic data confirmed that the government is right. The recovery is underway and will be more solid thanks to the policy of the controlled spending and government accounts," Berlusconi said.
Regional and municipal governments are not satisfied with a tightened budget as they believe it would cut too much funding without reducing any of their responsibilities.