LEAD: Italy austerity measures clear first parliament hurdle

Dec 16, 2011, 12:57 GMT

Rome - Italy's new government Friday won a parliamentary vote of confidence on a package of austerity measures aimed at saving Italy from bankruptcy.

The result was widely expected, as Prime Minister Mario Monti enjoys bipartisan support from the country's main political parties.

The lower house Chamber of Deputies voted 495 to 88 in favour of Monti's government. There were four abstentions.

The package - including higher value added tax, a new levy on first homes and pension reforms - now moves to the Senate for final approval - possibly also through a confidence vote - by the end of next week.

Resorting to a confidence vote allows the government to speed up approval of the measures, since it forces legislators to choose whether to accept the package as it is, or send the government home.

Monti's technocratic cabinet has the backing of parliament's two largest political groups - the conservative People of Freedom party of Silvio Berlusconi and the centre-left Democratic Party.

Monti, a former European Union commissioner, has billed the government's 24-billion-euro (32-billion-dollar) austerity package as a 'Save Italy' decree.

The premier is under pressure to tackle Italy's 1.9-trillion-euro public debt load, which is 20 per cent larger than its annual gross domestic product.