'Spending review, with or without Cottarelli' - Renzi

(ANSA) - Rome, July 31 - The spending review will get done, with or without its commissioner, Premier Matteo Renzi said Thursday.
    "I respect (Carlo) Cottarelli. He will do what he has to do. But he is not the point. We will carry out the spending review with or without him, and we will stand by the numbers," Renzi said.
    "After our spending review, our 16-billion-euro budget will bring the deficit to 2.3% of GDP," Renzi explained.
    His comments came after the government denied reports of tensions with Cottarelli, the head of a major review of public spending that it hopes will generate billions of euros in savings. "There is no Cottarelli case," said Cabinet Undersecretary Graziano Delrio, who is widely considered Renzi's right-hand man.