(From L) Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, Labour and Social Policies, Luigi Di Maio, Italy's Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte and Italy's Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini hold a press conference following a Cabinet meeting on Italy's draft budget, before its submission deadline to the European Commission at Palazzo Chigi in Rome, Italy, on October 15, 2018.
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The Italian government expects the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow just 0.1 percent this year, down from a 1 percent expansion forecast in December, Il Sole 24 Ore daily reported on Wednesday.
A planned package of measures designed to lift economic growth could boost this year's GDP to 0.2 percent, the paper said, allowing the government to submit to the European Commission a revised deficit-to-GDP target of 2.3 percent.
That compares with a 2.04 percent deficit forecast in Italy's 2019 budget law.