Italy’s prime minister warns against government fall

Italy’s Prime Minister Enrico Letta has called for political stability in the country, warning against the economic consequences of the fall of his government.

“I want to send a very strong message here, we can no longer afford this instability based on political games,” Letta said on Saturday.

“Everything depends on stability, without stability we have no chance of pulling through,” he added, highlighting that if his government falls, hopes of economic recovery and fiscal consolidation would be destroyed.

He made the remarks ahead of a vote by Italy’s Senate panel on September 18 on whether former premier Silvio Berlusconi should be expelled from parliament after a conviction for tax fraud.

Berlusconi’s allies have threatened to bring down the government if the vote goes against him.

Letta’s left-right coalition is in need of the support of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party (PDL) to survive. The coalition has bickered since its formation in April, but the internal strife has increased since Berlusconi was sentenced last month.

Meanwhile, Letta expressed confidence that Berlusconi would not bring his government down.

“No one will take responsibility for throwing everything up in the air and then having to explain what they have done to the Italians,” the Italian prime minister said.

He also noted that due to the political uncertainty of the last few weeks in the European country, Italy’s borrowing costs have risen. However, he stressed that Rome would meet its budget deficit target of 2.9 percent of output in 2013.

Italy started to experience recession after its economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011 and by 0.7 percent in the year’s fourth quarter. Over the past decade, Italy has been the slowest-growing economy in the eurozone.