Italian Sovereign
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Italian government bonds sold off sharply this week as worries grew over the sovereign’s debt sustainability after last week’s Eurogroup meeting left any form of debt mutualisation a highly unlikely prospect in the near term. The result is that Italy will have to rely more on support from the European Central Bank as it prepares to bolt on a much bigger borrowing programme in response to the coronavirus pandemic. -
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti pulled off a €1bn dual tranche Covid-19 response bond on Wednesday, capitalising on investors’ desire to deploy cash into coronavirus instruments to ride out a difficult market.
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The Italian Treasury has updated the guidelines for its debt management strategy for 2020 as it comes to terms with additional financing needs from Covid-19. There are plans for more syndications, bigger auctions and more products for retail investors.
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Italy is set to announce a new decree law that would allow banks to use public guarantees to cover 90%-100% of their lending.
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Italy’s borrowing is set to increase as it attempts to weather the economic impact of coronavirus. But Davide Iacovoni, director general of the Italian public debt office, told GlobalCapital that he did not expect investors to abandon the country’s debt. He also called for some form of European risk sharing.
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The economic shock of the coronavirus outbreak is not likely to cause a downgrade to Italy’s credit rating, according to S&P in spite of the fact that its debt to GDP ratio could climb steeply in order to fund its response.
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Market participants are debating whether the EU is responding quickly and strongly enough in the coronavirus crisis, after the bloc put off the question of how to involve the European Stability Mechanism on Monday evening.
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The European Union is set to make at least €25bn of budget funding available for sectors affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus, as its institutions join forces to tackle the economic impact of the outbreak. Rules on state aid and public finance will also be loosened, giving member states more room to launch fiscal stimulus measures.
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Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, February 24. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.
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Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, February 17. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.
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Italy is considering the sustainability-linked bond format pioneered by Italian electricity and gas company Enel, but Davide Iacovoni, head of Italy’s debt management office, thinks the structure may not suit the sovereign’s priorities of ensuring liquidity and maximising reach.
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