Italy finmin confident of budget compromise with EU

Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said on Sunday he was sure he would be able to hatch a deal with the European Commission over Italy's public finances despite threats of disciplinary action. "I'm sure we can find a solution because the attitude of the Italian government is to be compliant with the fiscal rules," Tria said as he answered a question in English after a G20 meeting in Japan.

"Then we'll try to demonstrate that our programme will bring the Italian public finances to be compliant," he added. He stuck by the government's official deficit estimate, which put the expected deficit-to-GDP ratio for this year at 2.4%, but added the ratio could come in at 2.1%-2.2%.

Speaking alongside Tria, Italian central bank governor Ignazio Visco said risks surrounding the country's towering debt pile had not been a topic of discussion at the meeting of the world's top financial leaders in the Japanese city of Fukuoka. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Dale Hudson)