EU summit on economy in Italy on Oct 6

PARIS, Aug 30 (AFP): French President Francois Hollande announced on Saturday that EU leaders would hold a summit in Italy in early October aimed at boosting growth and jobs in the bloc.

"We supported the proposal of (Italian Prime Minister) Matteo Renzi to have a summit of the 28 (EU member states) in Italy on October 6," Hollande told reporters after a meeting of centre-left leaders in Paris. He said the summit would be followed by a gathering of eurozone leaders "if our partners accept".

The centre-left leaders in Paris "agreed that Europe should be geared more than it is today towards growth and jobs," Hollande said.

Hollande also called for a "relaxing" of the European Central Bank's monetary policy. And he reiterated his call for the "rhythm" of deficit reduction to be "made compatible with growth".

France has promised the EU it will get its budget deficit below the bloc's limit of three per cent of GDP by the end of next year but this looks increasingly difficult given zero growth in the eurozone's second-largest economy.