Italian Budget

Italian Senate passes Tough Budget

The Italian Senate has passed a tough budget, including cuts of 48bn euros ($67bn; £42bn) over three years.

The lower house must also adopt the measures in a vote on Friday.
Italy has one of the largest debt mountains in the eurozone and wants to avoid any need for a bail-out. Italian PM has said Italy is on the front line of the eurozone's economic difficulties.
Italy raised 2.97bn euros ($4.2bn; £2.6bn) through a sale of 15-year government bonds on Thursday, but had to offer a 5.9% rate of return - an all-time high for such bonds.