ROME (Reuters) - Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Thursday he was confident Italy would win budget leeway from the European Union so it can spend on measures aimed at boosting economic growth.
"We've started to cut unnecessary items from the state budget, and I trust that at a European level in the coming months we will see great results on the possibility of exceeding those (budget) parametres," Di Maio told reporters.
This "doesn't mean going against Europe, but making investments to relaunch our country," he said.
Di Maio said he was also confident that next year's budget would included a pension reform, tax cuts and a citizen's income, measures promised by the ruling coalition that will cost billions of euros and put pressure on public accounts.
Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Wednesday he was already discussing with the European Commission the need to "avoid a pro-cyclical fiscal correction which would intensify the slowdown in the economy".
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, writing by Steve Scherer; Editing by Crispian Balmer)
