ROME, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Italy is no longer the "sick man of Europe," Premier Romano Prodi told the foreign press in Rome on Wednesday.

    Summing up 14 months of government action, Prodi said Italian growth rates had rise close to the European Union average and exports were showing double-digit growth.

    He said government policy was "rebuilding the primary surplus" and had reversed a recent increase in national debt, according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

    The premier praised a crackdown against tax evasion which had led to an unexpectedly high windfall and allowed measures to help the needy to be included in the 2008 budget.

    "We have begun a slight but significant correction in the distribution of income," he said.

    He also voiced the hope that the government's 2008 budget would be promptly approved by the parliament.

    Meanwhile, Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa urged center-left senators to show unity by approving the government's 2008 budget without the need for a confidence vote.

    The draft budget has been welcomed by big business in the country because it includes a cut in the main corporation tax, which falls from 33 percent to 28 percent, and also another a cut in the regional business tax, which drops to 3.9 percent from 4.25 percent.