Return to old EU budget rules would be "fatal" for Italy - PM

ROME (Reuters) - Further efforts in the negotiations by European Union countries over the bloc's fiscal rules are needed as going back to old targets would be "fatal" for Italy's economy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Friday.

"A return to the old (fiscal) parameters would be fatal for our economy, it seems progress is being made (in discussions), but these are still insufficient and much more work needs to be done," Meloni said, speaking in Zagreb after meeting Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

The EU's fiscal rules, suspended since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are due to return next year with amendments now being negotiated by EU governments, and Italy is proposing ways to make it as lenient as possible.

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Gavin Jones)