ROME, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Italy's Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli said Tuesday that Italy would not need more austerity tightening in 2014 after a warning by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Referring to whether more budget measures would be necessary in 2014 to keep Italy on its planned path of structural debt reduction, Grilli said he did not think that the country needs it.
"In my opinion, as it emerges from our scenarios, it is clear that we will have a balanced budget also in the year 2014," he was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency.
An OECD report revised down growth forecasts for Italy in 2012 and 2013, adding that Prime Minister Mario Monti's emergency government may need to further tighten austerity in 2014, despite the tough tax hikes and welfare cuts introduced so far to balance the budget in structural terms next year.
The report expected the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to decline by 2.2 percent this year and 1 percent in 2013, compared to May forecasts of drops of 1.7 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.
"Should the OECD projection be realized, further fiscal tightening in 2014 would be necessary to achieve the planned debt reduction path," it said.
Meanwhile, new negative economic indicators emerged on Tuesday in the recession-hit country. According to the Italian central bank, household real income is set to fall for the fifth consecutive time this year, with a drop of over 2.5 percent. 
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