The seven-line statement from Berlusconi’s office said the government remained committed to the tight budgetary policies overseen by Tremonti, seen by many in the financial markets as a guarantor of Italian stability.

“Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reiterates his full support to the action of Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti,” read the statement from Palazzo Chigi.

“It is a policy which must be maintained in a context of financial turbulence in the world,” it said.

The bare statement contained no other explanation but followed growing speculation of divisions between the 74 year-old premier and the minister seen as one of the best placed candidates to succeed him as leader of the center-right.

On Thursday the daily Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family which has a record of attacking the prime minister’s enemies, carried a front page article headlined: “The Tremonti case blows up.”

The newspaper contained an interview with Culture Minister Giancarlo Galan, one of Berlusconi’s most faithful supporters, complaining that Tremonti’s tight grip on spending was hurting the electoral prospects of the ruling PDL party.

With a public debt level equivalent to almost 120 percent of gross domestic product, one of the highest levels in the world, Italian politicians of all parties have been keenly aware of the need to keep public spending under control.

Tremonti has been widely praised for his role in the crisis.

But his sometimes abrasive manner and a perception that he is closer to Berlusconi’s coalition allies in the Northern League than to the prime minister himself has caused mounting irritation among many in the PDL.

“TREMONTI CASE BLOWS UP“

Galan said Tremonti had helped ensure Italy had not shared the fate of Greece in the financial market crisis but added there were growing worries about the impact on voters ahead of local elections next month and national elections in 2013.

“The problem is that in two years time, we can’t run an election campaign based on an argument like that,” he said.

“Translation: Tremonti is going to make us lose the election and that’s why I’m asking Berlusconi to shake things up.”

According to a poll in the left-leaning La Repubblica on Monday, support for Berlusconi’s government has continued to fall, hurt by a sluggish economy and a variety of scandals, with confidence running at just 23 percent.

The fact that Galan’s interview appeared in Il Giornale, accompanied by a supportive front-page editorial suggested that the criticism could be seen as a shot across the bows from the prime minister’s camp.

Il Giornale has a reputation for mounting fierce attacks on perceived enemies of Berlusconi. Past targets have included his former ally Gianfranco Fini, Emma Marcegaglia, head of the main industry federation Confindustria and the editor of the Catholic daily Avvenire.