Italy's populist government will not backtrack on its economic blueprint including plans to hike the deficit - despite the parliamentary budget office's rejection of the document - finance minister Giovanni Tria said on Wednesday.
"Following the parliamentary budget office's failure to validate the government's macroeconomic programme (on Tuesday), the government believes it is opportune to confirm these targets, " Tria told the upper and lower houses of parliament's budget committees.
"We must not let short-term market volatility hamper our ability to take reasoned decisions," Tria added.
The government's plan to let the deficit climb to 2.4 percent in 2019 - triple the target of the previous centre-left administration - has unnerved financial markets, triggering a sharp hike in Italian government bond yields.
The European Commission has also expressed concern that the government's spending plans will breach EU fiscal rules and could even spell the end of the euro.
Earlier on Wednesday, both leaders of the ruling coalition said they would not give in to international pressure.
Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio told Rai public radio he would not "betray" Italians by rowing back on the budget plan.
Far-right League leader Matteo Salvini, speaking to state broadcaster Raid, repeated a warning to "speculators" against betting that the government would climb down .
Tria had allegedly sought a deficit target of 1.6 percent for the 2019 budget but was overruled by Di Maio and Salvini.
