Italy economy minister says EIB should issue more bonds, ECB should buy them

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said on Friday the European Investment Bank should issue more bonds to finance investment policies, and they should be bought by the European Central Bank.

"We need more bonds issued by the EIB, and it is important that they should be bought by the ECB", Gualtieri said at a conference on sustainable development in Rome.

Gualtieri, who presented the first economic and financial document of the new Italian government this week, added that European Stability Pact rules should underpin the expansionary fiscal policies that Italy aims to implement.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; writing by Angelo Amante)