ROME, Sept 30 — Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said today his government had freed up the €23 billion (RM105 billion) in funds needed to avoid a scheduled increase in the sales tax next year.

"We’ll discuss the new budget forecasts today ... the first good piece of news is that we’ll offset the VAT hike, we have the €23 billion,” he said.

Conte added he would like to increase workers’ net pay and halve the VAT rate on energy bills to five per cent as well as cut it to one per cent on pasta, bread and fruit for poorer households.

A cabinet meeting scheduled for 1630 GMT will discuss the updated forecasts underpinning Italy’s 2020 budget. — Reuters