Italy's economy has entered a slow recovery and Italians have good reason to be optimistic about the future, in a message marking Savings Day, Italy Premier Silvio Berlusconi said.

In good news for overseas property investors, Mr. Berlusconi said that the worst part of the financial crisis would appear to be behind the country and, while slow, a recovery has begun. There are many reasons for Italians to be optimistic and they can now overcome that attitude which has been defined as 'static' pessimism, he added.

According to the Italian premier, the economic downturn is being overcome ''thanks to the decisions made on a global level as well as the fact that all institutional, social and economic players in this country fulfilled their roles in a positive way''. The premier went on to praise the banks for their performance during the credit crunch which he said helped Italy through the crisis better than many other countries.

Meanwhile, The Italian Banking Association (ABI) decided to allow mortgage holders who are in serious economic difficulty to suspend payments for up to one year. The measure, which will go into effect in January, is for those who have lost their jobs, who are on temporary layoff plans, who were self-employed but have gone out of business and who have lost a family member whose income supported the household.

Moreover, The Italian government is examining ways to help small businesses obtain and manage credit once the current one-year moratorium on loan payments expires, according to Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti. He explained that ''we are thinking about one or more assistance funds, the structure of which need to be compatible with the market''.

Tremonti said that the government could be adjusting taxation, granting greater deductions, ''because personally I prefer to help businesses directly rather than work through the banks''. ''In any case, there will probably be a combination of approaches'','' he added.