Matteo Renzi suffered a stinging defeat in a referendum on constitutional change (File)
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced he would resign at 1800 GMT (2330 IST) on Wednesday, three days after suffering a stinging defeat in a referendum on constitutional change.
The centre-left leader had announced he would step down immediately after the vote but was persuaded to stay on until the completion of parliamentary approval of Italy's 2017 budget, which happened on Wednesday.