(ANSA) - Rome, October 8 - Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem hailed Italian Premier Matteo Renzi's ambitious reform programme overnight and said he was hopeful Italy could exceed expectations on growth. "I certainly hope Italy is a pleasant surprise in growth terms," Dijsselbloem said. "The Renzi government is very ambitious in terms of reforms and it's pushing forward on many fronts, such as reforming the public sector and the economy, I'm sure this will bear fruit and I hope that France does the same".
The government's Constitutional reform bill, meanwhile, continued to make progress in its third parliamentary reading in Friday when the floor of the Senate rejected amendment 38.900 to article 38 with 145 votes in favour, 110 against and 5 abstentions. The votes of the ruling coalition have been going down by between 10 and 15 when secret votes are called on the contested bill, which aims to change the Constitution to overhaul Italy's slow, costly political machinery. Indeed, in the following vote, the ruling majority had 169 Senators vote in favour.