File photo of Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi
Italy's Matteo Renzi told Germany's central bank on Friday that it was not its job to comment on Italian policies, insisting Europe "belongs to its citizens and not to German bankers".
"The Bundesbank's job is to ensure its statutes are respected, not to participate in Italy's political debate," the prime minister said at a press conference in Rome after talks with European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.
"Europe belongs to its citizens, not to bankers, either German or Italian ones," he added.
Italy, the eurozone's third largest economy, is shouldering a vast public debt and has been pushing for greater budget flexibility which it insists is necessary to boost growth and tackle a widespread youth unemployment crisis.
Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann on Thursday had said countries should complete structural reforms before requesting increased flexibility.
According to Il Sole 24 Ore daily, the German central banker also objected to Renzi "telling us what we should do", and stressed that "increasing debts is not prerequisite to growth" - comments which had sparked angry reactions in Italy's media.
"Flexibility is not a request made by Italy, it is what Europe needs," Renzi said.