Italian lawmakers are to delay the introduction of a financial transaction tax on derivatives and "high-frequency" trades by at least two months, reflecting growing uncertainty over the levy which is being closely watched ahead of a proposed transaction tax across 11 European Union countries next year.

The Italian Ministry of the Economy and Finance levied an FTT on equity transactions at the start of March, and was set to extend this to derivatives and so-called "high-frequency" transactions at the start of July.