By Ian Simpson
CERNOBBIO, Italy, March 15 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will discuss more measures to boost Italy's recession-hit economy on Tuesday when he meets the head of business lobby Confindustria, he said on Sunday.
Berlusconi said Italy had moved forcefully to defend its economy, the euro zone's third-biggest, during the global downturn. Italy has unveiled a series of stimulus measures, including billions of euros in infrastructure spending and support for bank capital, but has been hampered by its hefty public debt.
"On Tuesday I'm going to be discussing how to overcome the crisis with Confindustria," Berlusconi, a media tycoon and one of Italy's richest men, said in an address to a business conference.
The lobby's chairman, Emma Marciagaglia, had criticised the centre-right government's performance on Saturday, calling for more aid to business including funds for small and mid-sized businesses and tax relief.
Italy's economy shrank at its fastest rate in at least 28 years in the fourth quarter of last year.
One of the stimulus moves, a decree that lets Italians expand the size of their dwellings, will be discussed by the cabinet on Friday, Berlusconi said.
Pointing to a possible hurdle to infrastructure spending plans, he criticised prosecutors who investigate builders and raise obstacles to big projects.
Such investigations are an "absolute pathology", he said, pointing to jail sentences this month for the top executive of builder Impregilo SpA and others for illegal waste disposal on a high-speed rail project. (Editing by David Holmes)