Italy PM to reveal austerity plan

Newly-appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is due to outline austerity measures aimed at steering the country out of its debt crisis.He will present his plans to the Italian senate ahead of a confidence vote in the upper house.Mr Monti, who has unveiled a cabinet of technocrats, has revealed little about his plans, but they are expected to follow demands made by the EU.He has said he is convinced that his new government will restore confidence.Mr Monti is tasked with reducing public debt of 1.9tn euros ($2.6tn; £1.6tn) and restoring economic growth.On Wednesday, Italy's borrowing costs fell back below the critical 7% level - the level at which Greece, Portugal and Ireland were forced to accept an IMF bailout - after the European Central Bank intervened and began buying up Italian bonds.Mr Monti, a former EU commissioner who has was officially sworn in on Wednesday, appointed a banker to lead a super-ministry of development, infrastructure and transport.His decision to personally handle the finance portfolio was welcomed by Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the euro zone finance ministers group.Mr Juncker said Mr Monti was "the man for the situation" and added: "The rapid and implementation of all the measures voted recently by the Italian parliament must be a priority to return the country to the path of political credibility".German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would meet Monti as soon as possible.Corrado Passera, CEO of the Intesa Sanpaolo banking group, was named to head the new ministry of development, infrastructure and transport.Another key appointment was that of Antonio Catricala, head of the anti-trust authority, who was made under-secretary to the prime minister's office.Despite reports that Mr Monti had sought to include politicians in his cabinet, there are none."The absence of political personalities in the government will help rather than hinder a solid base of support for the government in parliament and in the political parties because it will remove one ground for disagreement," he said.Correspondents say it looks almost certain that Mr Monti will receive the backing of lawmakers during Thursday's confidence vote in the Senate, and a subsequent vote in the lower house on Friday.Only one party, the right-wing Northern League, says it will withhold its support though former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has reportedly said he could "pull the plug" on the government if he does not like what it does.