Italian cabinet approves austerity measures

The Italian government has approved austerity measures worth 24 billion euros for 2011-2012 in a bid to stabilise public finances."The measures are centred on cuts to public spending," the government said in a statement late Tuesday after a cabinet meeting, adding that they also aimed at increasing revenues mainly by cracking down on tax evasion.The measures, worth nearly 30 billion dollars, are aimed at helping cut the public deficit from 5.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 to 2.7 percent in 2012, bringing Italy into line with an EU limit of three percent.