Italy adopts austerity budget

Italy's parliament on Friday gave final approval on Friday to a whopping €48-billion ($68-billion) austerity budget aimed at slashing the deficit by 2014 and reassuring nervous financial markets.

Italy's parliament on Friday gave final approval on Friday to a whopping €48-billion ($68-billion) austerity budget aimed at slashing the deficit by 2014 and reassuring nervous financial markets. Adoption of the wide-ranging plan, which includes deep cuts to regional subsidies, family tax benefits and top-tier pensions, came just ahead of the hotly awaited release of results from stress tests on 91 European banks.

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Italy has been swept by uncertainty on the markets.