Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday she was hopeful that the European Central Bank would start to reduce interest rates in 2024.

"I trust that this year we can be reasonable and imagine lower interest rates that would free up resources that we are paying on Italian debt," Meloni told a news conference.

(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Crispian Balmer)