Italy’s Monti faces confidence vote

The austerity plan implemented by Italian prime minister Mario Monti could move at a faster pace if his government wins a confidence vote in parliament on Friday.

The 33 billion euro plan unveiled at the beginning of the month is already underway, but needs 60 days to be approved by both the Senate and lower house.

Proceedings in the lower chamber were disrupted by the rightwing Northern League party after the announcement of the vote on Thursday.

Their noisy protests against changes to pensions and taxes on primary residences forced the speaker to temporarily suspend the session.

Monti’s government is hoping to push the package through before Christmas to deal with the country’s huge debt problem, which now stands at over 120 per cent of GDP.

The plans are being backed by the biggest political group, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party.

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