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The next Italian government faces a double challenge. It is expected to keep order in public finance, as the other governments of the past 20 years, and to rekindle growth, as none of the past governments has succeeded in doing. Consequently its agenda will have to be gauged on the basis of three main elements: its adherence to the European fiscal compact; its ability to work with the EU institutions to solve the credit crunch underway; its reform plans aimed at helping Italian producers urgently achieve higher productivity and return to the export performances of the past.