Italy's League chief sees govt programme completed Wednesday

FILE PHOTO: League party leader Matteo Salvini leaves after a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella during the second day of consultations at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League expect to complete a joint policy agenda on Wednesday, paving the way for a coalition government, League leader Matteo Salvini said on Wednesday.

"We have made a lot of good progress ... we should finish the programme today," Salvini said during a live video stream on Facebook.

In upbeat comments that contained few of the cautionary notes he had used in recent days, Salvini said the 5-Star and League coalition would set a precise timeline for its reforms in issues including taxation, pensions and education.

"It would be crazy to give up at the moment of truth," he said, adding that he would not be intimidated by negative reaction from financial markets or attacks from the media against the two anti-system parties.

"The more they insult us, the more they threaten us, the more they blackmail us, the more desire I have to embark on this challenge," he said.

(Reporting By Gavin Jones; editing by Steve Scherer)