The text of the decree should be published in the Official Journal on Monday. 

It features measures for agriculture, schools, culture and heritage and also aims to streamline bureaucracy for the effort to reconstruct the affected areas and make buildings safe.

Meanwhile 75 aftershocks were registered after midnight  on Friday in the regions of Le Marche, Umbria and Lazio.

The strongest, a magnitude 3.4 aftershock was recorded at 12:24 am local time between the Umbrian city of Perugia and Macerata, in Le Marche.

The emergency started with the August 24 magnitude 6.2 earthquake that killed 298 people.

Two more quakes shook the area on October 26, one measuring magnitude 5.4 and the other 5.9.

On November 3, a magnitude 6.5 tremor struck near Norcia, the most intense  since 1980.

The quakes have caused extensive damage, razing towns to the ground and destroying priceless artworks and Medieval churches as well as the area's economy.

The civil protection department is currently assisting over 26,000 homeless people.

With ANSA