Euro is our currency and for us it is unrenounceable, says Giuseppe Conte

Italy is totally committed to the euro and any critical comments about the single currency are individual opinions which have nothing to do with the government's policies, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday.

Conte spoke after a eurosceptic lawmaker in the ruling League party said earlier that Italy would benefit from more favourable economic conditions if it were outside the eurozone, roiling financial markets.

"The euro is our currency and for us it is unrenounceable," Conte said on Facebook. Any declarations suggesting otherwise must be seen as "free and arbitrary opinions that have nothing to do with the policies of this government," he added.

Conte also played down tensions with the European Union over Italy's big-spending budget. He said Rome was beginning a dialogue with EU institutions with "serenity and respect for each other's roles," and he was confident the government could show the validity of its budget plans.