ROME, July 13, 2011 (AFP) - The Italian parliament will strengthen and adopt a sweeping four-year austerity budget by Friday, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said in Rome on Wednesday at a conference of Italian bankers.
"The decree for budget balance will be reinforced over all four years. It will be approved by Friday," Tremonti said in his speech.
"We have to do more and we will do more in the coming hours," he said.
Referring to volatility on eurozone bond markets, Tremonti said this was a problem "not for any single state but for the whole structure."
He also reiterated his call for Eurobonds as "the only possible solution" to allow eurozone countries to raise funds on debt markets.
He also denounced a failure to learn the lessons of the global economic crisis, saying: "Nothing of what should have been done has been done."
"No-one paid except citizens who paid for excessive public debt," he added.