Updated at 12pm

European Affairs Minister Paolo Savona proposed on Monday that Italy should boost investments by about €50 billion and called on the EU to back the plan instead of insisting on deficit reduction.

In an interview with daily La Verita, Savona said Italy should be allowed to spend the equivalent of this year's estimated current account surplus, around 2.7 per cent of gross domestic product, on new investments to raise economic growth.

Savona also called for an increase in the powers of the European Central Bank so that it can be "the lender of last resort" for the eurozone. He said those who did not agree "don't want a united Europe."

Salvini says Italy not planning to leave eurozone

In the meantime, Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini on Monday criticised the euro but said Italy had no plans to leave the single currency.

"Leaving the euro is not in the programme of this government," Salvini, who is also interior minister and leader of the right-wing League, said at a news conference in Moscow.

He reiterated his frequent criticism of the single currency, calling it "an experiment that began badly".