Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti said Tuesday he was leaving a meeting with European Union counterparts in Brussels early to conclude work on austerity measures designed to calm markets, dpa reported. "I am going to Rome to draw up Italy's budget," Tremonti told reporters. Tremonti is pushing for parliament to approve a 40-billion-euro (55-billion-dollar) package of budget cuts and tax hikes. But he has been weakened by criticism from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a corruption investigation targeting one of his close advisors.
