ROME ? Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a confidence vote Friday in Parliament ? the latest of dozens he has faced ? but markets were not reassured that outcome was enough to solve Italy's growing economic crisis.
Berlusconi's conservatives won 316-301 in Parliament's lower house, and his allies clapped in relief at the result after days of political tension and uncertainty. Had he lost, the 75-year-old Berlusconi would have been forced to resign about 1 1/2 years before the end of his term in 2013, effectively ending his political career.
"The best signal that Italy could have sent to the markets would have been to boot Mr. Berlusconi out, but it has failed to do so," said Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-Define an Economic Think Tank. "With Mr. Berlusconi still at the helm, there is nothing that Italy can do from within that will restore market confidence."
Three ratings agencies have downgraded Italy's public debt, citing the country's political gridlock and its low growth prospects.
Berlusconi has been weakened by sex scandals, criticized for his handling of Italy's troubled economy and faced repeated calls for his resignation from his political rivals, labor unions and even some business leaders. Even some of his own allies have openly expressed disappointment, with at least two deserting the vote Friday.
Italy has found itself increasingly embroiled in Europe's debt crisis over the past few months. It's debt burden ? about 120 percent of its national income ? is second only to Greece in the 17-nation eurozone.
After a slew of ratings downgrades and rising borrowing costs, Berlusconi's government has been forced to enact a series of austerity measures to assure the markets that a strategy is in place.
However, investors remain skeptical that there's the necessary political will to push through the big spending cuts and tax increases ? fears that have driven Italy's borrowing costs ever higher. Italy is considered now more of a danger than Spain partly because Berlusconi's government has backtracked on several reform proposals.
The European Central Bank has been buying up Italian bonds in the markets for weeks, and without that, Italy could have found its borrowing rates rise to an unsustainable level.
Berlusconi has steadfastly hung onto power despite the scandals and four criminal trials in Milan. He has always maintained his innocence and blamed what he says are overzealous, left-leaning prosecutors bent on ousting him.
He insists there is no alternative to his government and called the vote Friday an "ambush" by the opposition. Moments after his victory, he spoke to reporters about his plan to spur the country's moribund economy.
Italy is under pressure to come up with growth-promoting measures to avert being dragged into the widening European sovereign debt crisis.
This week, Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, who takes over the helm of the European Central Bank on Nov. 1, urged the government to act more quickly to implement reforms that can spur growth ? beyond the austerity package that put Italy on the path to balance its budget by 2013.
Draghi warned that otherwise the rising cost of borrowing to service national debt will eat up "no small part" of the austerity package approved by Parliament last month.
"The goal of relaunching growth is finally largely shared, but the adoption of the measures necessary so far have banged up against apparently insurmountable difficulties," Draghi said.
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