ROME — Mario Monti, the economist chosen as a stopgap prime minister of Italy after the collapse of Silvio Berlusconi’s government last November, said Thursday that he would consider staying on for another term in office if elections scheduled for next spring do not produce a strong majority for any party coalition.

Mr. Monti said he hoped that the voting would yield a “clear result” and a “government led by a political leader.” But opinion polls now indicate that the elections may yield another deadlock, and if that happens, Mr. Monti said, he would think about leading another government if asked. “I will consider, I cannot preclude anything,” he said at a seminar at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

It is the first time that Mr. Monti, a former European Union commissioner, has publicly mentioned the possibility of remaining prime minister after the election.