Italy's Renzi hails budget as it clears lower house

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Monday that the 2017 budget which passed by parliament earlier was "rich with good news".

Italy's lower house earlier on Monday approved a bill covering the 2017 budget and the three-year budget for 2017-2019, which now passes to the Senate.

The good news is that the budget does away with regional business tax and a farming-related personal income tax, and makes cuts to the VAT, Renzi told reporters at a joint press conference with Economy and Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan.

According to the budget bill, it also earmarks 30-50 euros (31.8 to 53 U.S. dollars) for pensions under 1,000 euros a month, and sets aside funding for the renewal of public employee contracts.

As well, the government has added two billion euros to the national health budget, bringing it to 113 billion euros. The government has allocated another 50 million euros to a fund for the incapacitated, bringing it to 450 million euros.

"I hope everyone will appreciate the fact we got the budget approved in the lower house before the (Dec. 4 constitutional reform) referendum," he said, adding that the Senate has all the time it needs to review it before the end of the year.

Renzi went on to assure the public that the 2017 budget won't change no matter what happens at the referendum.

"It is a well-designed budget bill, and no one will be able to call its pillars into question," he told reporters. (1 euro = 1.06 U.S. dollars) Endit