Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi tendered his resignation on Wednesday, following a referendum defeat on his reform agenda. But President Sergio Mattarella asked him to remain in a caretaker role until a new government can be put in place.

"The president of the republic received the prime minister, Matteo Renzi, at the Quirinale palace this evening. Since the budget law has been approved he (Renzi) offered the resignation of the government over which he presides.

The republic's president has decided and invited the government to remain in charge to deal with general matters. The head of state will start consultations starting tomorrow, Thursday 8 December."said Ugo Zanpetti, presidential aide of Italy.

Before tendering his resignation, Renzi spoke to a gathering of his Democratic Party, telling them that an "internal transition" was needed in the name of transparency to make the party stand out to voters.

But, he said, this could only happen after the crisis of government, trigerred by his resignation, was tackled. Renzi tried to resign on Monday, but Mattarella told him to stay on until Parliament gave final approval to the 2017 national budget legislation. The budget was passed earlier Wednesday.