Compact, effective budget says Padoan (5)

(ANSA) - Washington, October 13 - The 2018 budget bill is "compact and effective", Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Friday, answering a question on whether he feared the examination of parliament. "I'm confident in parliament," he said.
    The minister said the budget bill would be before cabinet on Monday, the deadline for sending it off for a preliminary examination by Brussels. Padoan also said it was in Italy's interests to have an "orderly and swift" drop in non-performing loans (NPLs). He also said that Italian banks were an "ever less evident problem" and that "in my international talks we don't discuss them anymore".
    He added that taxes were coming down and youth unemployment was a government priority.
    Padoan was speaking at a meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).