08/09/2011 11:14
Italian Senate passes austerity plan
The Italian Senate on Wednesday approved the government’s widely criticized austerity program aimed at staving off financial crisis in a vote of confidence called by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Reuters reported.
The plan, which has been radically overhauled on several occasions under pressure from the European Central Bank and the European Union, now passes to the Chamber of Deputies, where Berlusconi has a slimmer but still stable majority.
It is expected to be definitively approved in the next few days.
The Senate approved the plan, which aims to balance the budget in 2013, with 165 votes in favour and 141 against.