FILE PHOTO: Offices of Deloitte are seen in London, Britain, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - Italy has picked the consulting firm Deloitte as its financial adviser in setting up a 500 million-euro real estate fund in an effort to squeeze money out of the property it owns, an official told Reuters on Friday.

Invimit, an asset-management company owned by Italy’s economy ministry, will team up with Deloitte to create the fund, which will be called Dante. Its assets will be public properties in city centers that are already rented out or soon will be. Legal firm DLA Piper will also act as adviser.

Italy plans to raise 950 million euros ($1.1 billion) from the sale and rental of its properties in 2019 and 300 million euros in the following two years.

Invimit is required to contribute 610 million euros, 500 million through the Dante fund and 110 million through the direct sale of properties.

“We expect to become the hub for investors who want to enter the public real estate market in Italy”, Invimit CEO Giovanna Della Posta told Reuters.

Under European Union budget rules, property disposals reduce both public debt and deficit. They will help Italy to meet a 2019 budget deficit goal of 2% of its gross domestic product that it agreed with the European Commission earlier this month.

The Treasury is expected to approve a decree to regulate the fund next week. After that, Invimit will organize a roadshow to sell shares in the Dante fund to domestic and foreign investors.

“We aim to close the placement at the beginning of October,” Della Posta said, adding she was confident the fund would offer an interesting return on investment.

(The refiled story fixes typo in first paragraph.)