Italian borrowing costs drop in EUR 3.5 bn bond sale
(MILAN) - Italy's borrowing costs fell sharply on Friday in an auction of bonds to be redeemed in 2015 which raised 3.5 billion euros ($4.6 billion), showing increased investor confidence.
The rate for the bonds was 1.85 percent compared to 2.50 percent in the last similar sale on December 13, the Bank of Italy said in a statement.
Demand outstripped supply by a factor of 1.45 and the rate was at the lowest level for three years, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The Italian Treasury also raised 813 million euros with inflation-indexed bonds due in June 2017 and 687 million euros in bonds due in October 2017.
The state therefore raised a total of 5.0 billion euros, the maximum targeted amount.
In its first bond auction of the year on Thursday, the state raised 8.5 billion euros in short-term paper at lower borrowing costs.
"Demand for Italian bonds is very solid," banking giant UniCredit said in a research note.
Text and Picture Copyright 2013 AFP. All other Copyright 2013 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
EUbusiness EUnews RSS feed