Getting your player ready...
MILAN — Italians are bracing for spending cuts as their government seeks to put its accounts in order to protect the nation’s high debt load from market speculation.
Parliament is set to approve hotly contested spending cuts today, which could include pay freezes for most public workers but cuts for those highest paid, and might include trims to the nation’s revered health system. The education minister has even suggested starting schools at the end of September instead of the middle, allowing families to take longer vacations and boost tourism.
Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti has vowed to go after high salaries in the bloated bureaucracy.
