(ANSA) - Rome, December 31 - Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Friday vowed to keep his government afloat despite its wafer-thin majority and avert elections he said the country did not need.

"(Italy) needs everything except early elections," the premier said in a phone call to one of his TV channels, rebutting a claim by key ally the Northern League earlier this week that the government simply didn't have the numbers to go on.

He recalled that the government had won two confidence votes in the last two months, albeit by only three votes on the second occasion on December 14.

"Everyone, from the Catholic Church to the business community, is urging us to make an effort to avert elections," he said, vowing to complete the government's reform programme and last until the end of its term in 2013.

"We can do it if we set aside useless polemics," the combative premier said, wishing Italians a Happy New Year.