Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti will hand in his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after parliament approves the 2013 budget later on Friday, political and government sources said.
Monti this month lost the support of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party which had backed his technocrat government in parliament. But Monti had already announced he would stand down as soon as the budget was passed.
He is due to hold a news conference on Sunday at which he is expected to say whether he intends to stand as a candidate in the election, likely to be held on February 24.
The lower house is expected to give final approval to the budget at around 5 p.m. (1700 GMT), wrapping up its last piece of business before Napolitano dissolves parliament.
The cabinet is expected to meet at 7 p.m and Monti could hand in his resignation to Napolitano immediately afterwards.
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