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Italian parliament approves austerity budget
December 22, 1996
Web posted at: 11:45 a.m. EST (1645 GMT)ROME (CNN) -- Italy's lower house of parliament approved the government's 1997 austerity budget Sunday, with two parties abstaining from the vote.
The new budget, which shaves 62.5 trillion lire (U.S.$41 billion) off the 1997 projected deficit, is an attempt to prepare Italy for a single European currency.
The final vote was 316-2, with the Freedom Alliance, headed by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, and the secessionist Northern League boycotting the final vote. The opposition parties criticized the package, saying Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his center-left government are leaning too heavily on tax hikes.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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