IMF says Italy on right track, must not let up on reform

ROME (Reuters) - Italy has made strong progress in shoring up its public finances and making structural reforms since the arrival of Prime Minister Mario Monti but must do more to revive economic growth, a senior IMF official said on Wednesday.

"Italy is on the right track and has made remarkable progress in the past six months," Reza Moghadam, director of the fund's Europe department said at a news conference in Rome following a regular annual inspection of Italy by a team from the International Monetary Fund.

He added that Italy should move quickly to implement labour market reforms.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said at the same conference that the IMF's assessment showed that structural reforms to boost growth cannot be delayed.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie)