Italy enjoyed mixed results when it raised nearly €5 billion from the bond markets in its first sale of very long-term debt since May 2011.
The Treasury sold €682,500 in 30-year bonds at an interest rate of 5.33%. Bids were shy of the €1.5 billion maximum on offer.
A 15-year bond sale also fell short, netting €816,000 at a yield of 4.81% - missing the €1.5 billion maximum.
However, Italy easily raised €3.5 billion in a sale of 3-year bonds with yields at 2.64%, down from 2.86% last month.
Analysts said the the yields and demand were ''tolerable rather than reassuring."
Italy has seen its borrowing costs fall since the European Central Bank unveiled its offer to buy short-term bonds in struggling countries.
The country has nearly met its funding needs for the year, which analysts said '''is a notable achievement given that Italy was under acute financial and political pressures in the second half of 2011."
They noted, however, that Italy's borrowing rates could rise again in the first half of 2013 as Italians vote to replace the current technocratic government with party politics. The markets, he said, will be looking for more liberalisation once the election is over.
Analysts said the the yields and demand were ''tolerable rather than reassuring."
Italy has seen its borrowing costs fall since the European Central Bank unveiled its offer to buy short-term bonds in struggling countries.
The country has nearly met its funding needs for the year, which analysts said '''is a notable achievement given that Italy was under acute financial and political pressures in the second half of 2011."
They noted, however, that Italy's borrowing rates could rise again in the first half of 2013 as Italians vote to replace the current technocratic government with party politics. The markets, he said, will be looking for more liberalisation once the election is over.
