Italy's 5-Star chief says policy agenda with League almost completed

FILE PHOTO: Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio speaks following a talk with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - The leader of Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement said on Tuesday the policy agenda his party is negotiating with the far-right League is almost completed and called on the League to have the "courage" to see it through.

The two parties have spent the last six days drawing up a so-called "contract" intended to be the basis for a coalition government between the two groups following an inconclusive March 4 election.

"The contract is almost finished," Luigi Di Maio said on Facebook. "This is the moment to have the courage to go all the way."

He echoed remarks from League leader Matteo Salvini that European Union budget rules need to be changed to allow Italy to spend more, though Di Maio added that this should be done in agreement with Italy's European partners.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones)