Premier Romano Prodi was buoyed on Tuesday by revised 2007 growth figures which put the Italian economy on track for its best performance in six years.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said it expected Italian GDP to rise by 2.2% this year compared to its previous forecast of 1.4%.
Vincent Cohen, advisor to OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis, stressed that Italian growth was showing itself to be "much stronger than expected".
Last month, the European Commission also revised its 2007 GDP growth forecast for Italy upwards, from 1.4% to 2%.
The government's forecast currently stands at 1.3% but Prodi has said his government will reassess the figures.
The GDP upturn follows on from 2006, when GDP rose 1.9% - the biggest rise since 2000.
That figure appeared to confirm that Italy was emerging from a prolonged period of economic stagnation. From 2001-2005, GDP growth averaged less than 0.7% per year.
The surge was especially welcome to Prodi since one of the main criticisms of his tough, 34.7-billion-euro budget this year was that it would stifle growth.
The manoeuvre, which contains extensive tax hikes and spending cuts, has sent Prodi's popularity ratings plummeting.
But the premier and his economy minister, Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, insist such a budget was the only way to bring down Italy's rising public debt and deficit levels.
Italy's debt mountain, which is the third biggest in the world, stands at more than 107% of GDP while the public deficit has breached the European Union's 3% limit for the past four years.
The deficit is now on target for falling back below the European Union's 3% limit by the end of the year.
