Silvio Berlusconi faces another sex scandal as Italy’s economy worsens

Silvio Berlusconi faces growing pressure to resign, after new wiretaps of him boasting about having sex with eight women in one night — and claiming that he is "only prime minister in his spare time" — were released.

Berlusconi, 74, was reportedly also recorded offering to fly at least one of the prostitutes with him on the state jet, The Telegraph reports.

And the tapes suggested for the first time that Berlusconi had given money to the women he allegedly slept with, "contradicting his repeated insistence that he never paid for sex," according to a report in the Times of India.

The wiretapped chats were between Berlusconi and Giampaolo Tarantini, a convicted cocaine dealer suspected of providing prostitutes for his infamous bunga-bunga parties.

In one excerpt published by the Corriere della Sera daily, Berlusconi boasts of Champagne-filled partying till 6:30 a.m. at a Milan nightclub, collecting the phone numbers of numerous women.

He also brags of fending off a line of 11 girls outside his door and "doing only eight girls, because I couldn't do more."

According to the full transcript of the conversation taped by investigators in early 2009, Berlusconi says:

"Last night I had a queue outside my door, there were 11 of them. I only managed to do eight of them, I couldn't manage any more. You just can't get round to all of them. But this morning I feel great, I'm pleased with my stamina."

Berlusconi is also quoted as saying to Tarantini:

"If you have a girl — two girls, three girls — to bring, please don't get tall ones … because we are not tall."

In another excerpt reported by major dailies, Berlusconi jokes to a young woman that he is premier in his "spare time."

According to Reuters:

Opposition parties stepped up calls for Berlusconi to resign after the latest disclosures, saying a country immersed in a debt crisis that threatens the entire euro zone could not afford a premier who governs in his spare time.