Italy minister badly weakened

ROME: Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti appears isolated and weak after being forced to hastily draw up Italy's second austerity plan in less than a month under the orders of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Tremonti has never been popular among his colleagues and has had often strained relations with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, but he could always boast that his prudent fiscal policies had kept Italy out of the euro zone debt crisis.