by Eric J. Lyman

ROME, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Italian lawmakers on Thursday said the parliament should focus on "economic growth measures" above all, amid further signs that the already slow-growing Italian economy may still face a rocky road ahead of it.

But it would not be an easy job.

Italy's parliament does have some success in the areas it sets as its top priority -- at least in the short term.

The best example came late last year fake gucci sunglasses, when lawmakers focused their efforts foremost on paying down debt and assuaging investor fears that the country could be forced to default on debt payments.

Yields on the Italian benchmark 10-year bonds spiked at 7.22 percent at that point when the technocrat government led by Mario Monti took over in November, reflecting nervousness in the market. The rates dropped below 7percent level in early January, and continued to decline on a steady pace through late March, when they touched 4.82 percent.

But ever since then, they have been slowly climbing up higher again, with trading on Thursday closing at 5.64 percent.

The main culprit behind the latest increases was the estimation that Italy would not be able to balance its books until 2015, compared to 2013 as promised earlier.

More alarming are the interest rates the Italian government must pay when it issues new bonds. Italy easily sold 8.5 billion euros in short-term six-month bonds Thursday, with a yield of 1.77 percent, compared to just 1.12 percent a month ago.

Another auction of new five-year and 10-year bonds is scheduled for Friday. Analysts said the yields for those sales were likely to rise as well.

"The government was successful in showing it was making tough decisions and by doing that bolstering investor confidence when it first came in. But once that happened then the main factor became the economic fundamentals, and they are not good," said Hildebrandt and Ferrar economist Javier Noriega.

Working on those economic fundamentals is what parliament has charged itself with now. It is just not clear what they can do.

The government has already labored to streamline dozens of government regulatory processes, to provide incentives for companies that hire new workers or invest to expand their businesses, and make it easier for corporations to expand into new sectors.

But an overall tax burden, which is among the highest among the country's European peers, has been a drag on growth, and rates cannot be lowered without renewing fears that the country's debt could spiral out of control.

Efforts so far have had a limited impact: the Italian economy is forecast to shrink 1.2 percent this year.

"Obviously, if there is something the government can do to spark growth they would have done it already," said Pietro Acbano mens gucci belts, an analyst with ABS Securities. "Perhaps this focus the parliament announced will result in some innovative new ideas, but it's not an easy task."