Italy's new government wants to renegotiate the pact of stability with the European Union, the industry minister said in an interview on Tuesday, April 30, according to Reuters.

Flavio Zanonato said Italy needed to pursue a credible economic policy to maintain its reputation in Europe and keep the spread between Italian and German bond yields low.

"But we are also interested in renegotiating with the union the pact of stability," he told La Repubblica newspaper.

Zanonato said other countries such as France were calling for similar actions. "In particular it should be possible to exclude from the pact investment spending," he said.

Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Monday his right-left coalition government would press for a change to the European Union's focus on austerity and pursue economic growth and jobs.

He said he would visit Berlin, Brussels and Paris this week to put forward his case.