Begrotingstekort Italië voor vierde jaar op rij te hoog (en)

Italy's deficit for 2006 is expected to be 3.8 percent of GDP, meaning the country will break the 3 percent GDP set by the EU for the fourth consecutive year.

Italian finance minister Giulio Tremonti gave an upbeat interpretation of the figures saying that Italy is on course to meet a target set by EU finance ministers last year.

However, 3.8 percent is higher than the targets that Rome gave the European Commission a few months ago.

In December, Italy told the commission it hoped to have a deficit of 3.5% of GDP for the year 2006, La Repubblica reports.

Mr Tremonti also said that Italy's GDP was expected to grow by 1.3 percent which is also below the 1.5 percent estimate for 2006.

The statistics, released a few days before the Italian elections on 9 and 10 April, were given very different interpretations by rival politicians.

Members of the government's coalition said they prove that Italy's economy is improving and contradict doomsday scenarios presented by the opposition during the electoral campaign.

Opposition leader Romano Prodi, however, criticized the results for not even meeting Italy's own targets.

"This data is worse than what had been given to the European Commission," said Mr Prodi.

"There's an increase in debt for a second year in a row," he added.

According to media reports, monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia will avoid commenting on the statistics until after the Italian elections.