Mario Monti wins confidence vote in Italy's lower house

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's government today won a confidence vote in the lower house of parliament, a day after the former EU commissioner laid out radical reforms to tackle the debt crisis.

Monti mustered support from an overwhelming majority, winning 556 out of the 617 deputies in attendance, after an equally big win in the Senate yesterday.

The technocrat has announced a plan to balance Italy's crucial austerity measures with schemes to boost "growth and equity", including investing in women and the young as well as tackling unfair privileges.

He faces his first international test next week, when he will travel to Brussels to meet EU president Herman Van Rompuy on Tuesday, before heading on to "three-way talks" with France and Germany on the future of the euro.

The inclusion of key pension and labour reforms urgently pushed for by the EU in Monti's crisis plan is expected to reassure markets which have been highly uneasy over fears that the eurozone crisis may spread to Italy.