Italy: Berlusconi survives vote that threatened to topple govt

Rome, 14 Oct. (AKI) - Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday survived a confidence vote that threatened to pull the plug on his conservative government.

The 75-year-old prime minister won the vote by 316 to 301.

Berlusconi has been under fire for his legal affairs and his handling of the European Union's fourth-largest economy.

Italy's has been downgraded by all three of the major credit ratings on concern that the country's pallid economic growth can make it difficult for it to pay off it 1.9 trillion euros in debt.

Meanwhile, Berlusconi is on trial in four separate cases that range from corruption to paying a minor for sex. He denies breaking the law in all cases and says he is the victim of political persecution by a leftist magistrate.

The confidence vote, the second Berlusconi has faced in the past month, was called after the government fell short in a vote in the Chamber of Deputies this week on a routine budget vote.

Worries that Italy could have trouble paying interest debt have exacerbated a crisis among the 17 countries that use the euro currency, causing the cost of debt to rise and even raising the possibility that Italy could default, causing the euro to collapse.

Berlusconi's government last month passed measures to cut spending by 54 billion euros and balance its budget in 2013, but it must do much more, Bank of Italy chief Mario Draghi said in a speech on Wednesday.