Conte is wary of the move and plans to meet with Salvini and fellow Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio early next week for clarification, the newspaper said.

The prime minister sees Salvini as either seeking a “black and white” commitment to his party’s tax program – which he’s said could cost €10 billion (US$11.4 billion) – or an attempt to keep open the possibility of precipitating a political crisis and moving toward early elections in the fall, Stampa reported, without citing anyone.

Italy and the European Union are locked in a tense standoff as Conte seeks to avoid disciplinary action over the country’s debt, while his deputies manoeuvre to assure funding for their flagship policies.

Those include the flat tax for Salvini’s League, and the citizens income welfare program for Di Maio’s Five Star Movement.

The flat-tax plan will “obviously” go ahead, Salvini said in an interview with Sky TG24 television Sunday. The measure will be worth “at least €15 million,” the minister said, adding that the funds “have already been found.