Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly won a vote of confidence in the Italian Parliament Wednesday, an outcome tantamount to approval of the government’s EUR54 billion austerity package, Wall Street Journal reported. The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, was scheduled to vote on the package itself later Wednesday. A failed confidence vote would have meant the collapse of Berlusconi’s government and either early elections or a caretaker government. The package of spending cuts and tax increases is aimed at calming markets and preventing Italy from falling victim to Europe’s debt crisis.
