ROME, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government on Monday adopted a series of measures to combat the global financial crisis which were hammered out by the leaders of the 15 eurozone countries at the weekend, according to Italian News Agency ANSA.

    The measures were contained in a decree which Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said was a "seamless" follow-up to one issued last week based on an accord struck between the 27 European Union economic and finance ministers.

    Defined as a "common tool box" of solutions which countries can pick and choose from in order to deal with the credit crunch on a national level, the measures are expected to be approved later this week by the 12 EU members which are not part of the eurozone.

    The measures include granting state aid to troubled banks, also through buying stakes in the banks, guaranteeing new bank loans, increasing the amount of liquidity in the market and making it easier for banks to lend money to each other at lower rates.

    Speaking at a press conference after Monday's cabinet meeting, Tremonti said that Italy would make available "whatever necessary" to ensure the stability of markets.

    "We are convinced that with these measures we can achieve the objective of guaranteeing market stability, liquidity for the system and investor confidence," the economy minister explained.

    "With our first decree we aimed at guaranteeing stability and confidence, and with the second one we have reinforced this as well as ensured cash for business, for the real economy, for consumers and the whole system," he added.

    "Our objective is not so much to save banks as to protect small investors," Tremonti said.

    Earlier in the day Tremonti confirmed that Italy's GDP this year will only rise by 0.1 percent and lowered the government's growth forecast for 2009 from 0.9 percent to 0.5 percent.

    Despite the slowdown in growth, the minister said Italy would keep its deficit at 2.55 percent of GDP.