ROME, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi likened Italians to industrious "ants" whose high savings level would help Italy survive the economic crisis better than its peers, in an interview published on Saturday.
"The Italians are a people of savers, of virtuous ants and not locusts, and this virtue will help a lot in coming months, especially if we can direct these savings into productive investments," he told Rome newspaper Il Messagero.
For example, Berlusconi said, Italian government debt such as Treasury bills (BOTs) and floating rate notes (CCTs) "are today among the safest forms of investment in the world".
In recent days, the Italian government has been underlining that its public debt is secure, with Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti saying this week it was "absolutely safe" and was guaranteed by the Italian state.
The country's public debt pile is the third highest in the world, which the government aims to bring to under 100 percent of gross domestic product by 2011.
Italian households have historically low levels of debt, though salaries are also among the lowest in the European Union. At the same time, Italian banks' conservative lending policies mean they had relatively low exposure to the credit crisis.
The government has offered 12 billion euros of support for
Italian banks, which maintain that they do not need such help.
The biggest, Unicredit
Berlusconi said Italian families' low level of indebtedness was "one of Italy's strengths" which, along with the health of private companies, should be taken into account by ratings agencies rather than just Italy's high public debt, he said.
The Italian premier said a change in the system of rating countries should be discussed by the G8 group of industrialised nations but also the G20, "but it will not be simple or quick".
(Reporting by Stephen Brown; Editing by Ron Askew)