Matteo Renzi | Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images Matteo Renzi delays resignation until after budget Prime minister asked to stay on in short term by president.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday asked Matteo Renzi to delay his resignation as prime minister until the country's 2017 budget has been adopted, according to an official statement.

"The president of the republic, given the need to complete the parliamentary process of approval of the budget law... asked the prime minister to postpone his resignation until this requirement has been fulfilled," according to the statement.

The president hoped to avoid "the risks of a provisional budget," the statement said.

Renzi had announced his intention to step down on Sunday night, after his campaign for constitutional reform suffered a crushing defeat in a referendum.

The government has already won a vote of confidence on the budget's contents in the lower house of parliament, and expects it will be approved by the senate by the end of the week, according to Italian media.