Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is facing some of the most vociferous opposition to his 2005 budget, which aims to keep the deficit within European Union limits, from the statisticians charged with figuring out just how big the government's spending shortfall will be.

Workers from the National Statistics Institute, who prepare data on everything from inflation to the numbers of bicycles manufactured, delayed the release today of retail sales figure for October. It was the fifth time a release was blocked or delayed in as many working days.

``We are cutting off services now to be able to provide better service in the future,'' Fabio Raptiti, a statistician and representative of the CGIL Union said at a press conference Wednesday.

The workers, who have been without a contract for more than three years, are demanding the government repeal 20 million euros ($27 million) in planned cuts to the statistics institute's budget, already the smallest in Europe. Berlusconi has proposed the cuts as part of 24 billion euros in deficit-reduction measures that aim to keep Italy from exceeding the EU's deficit limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.

If the protests continue, making that final deficit calculation will be difficult. The workers have threatened to disrupt tabulating the final budget numbers to be released in March if the government doesn't open negotiations on their complaints.

Spending on Statistics

Italy spends a little more than 0.1 percent of GDP preparing the national statistics, less than half the EU average, according to a study by Ecostat, the EU's Luxembourg-based statistics office. At the same time, Italy's entrance into the EU has forced Italy to produce more official releases of numbers and revamp many of their existing reporters to conform to EU standards, creating more work for the agency.

The government has shown little sign of caving into their demands. Mario Baccini, minister for public affairs, has so far refused to meet directly with the protesters.

Visitors to the Istat headquarters on the Viminale, one of Ancient Rome's famed seven hills, are greeted by a banner reading ``the fight continues.'' The time clocks used by workers to swipe in are bedecked in statements announcing protests and the occupation of the press room in the building where the data is released.

The protesting workers have delayed releases by occupying the room where the data is made public through a so-called lockup, where journalists are given the release in advance, but can't send that data out to readers until a signal by an Istat official in the room. As more workers began supporting the protest, Istat was forced to cancel the release of some data that couldn't be prepared for release.

To contact the reporter on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson in Rome at fjackson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 23, 2004 06:35 EST