A two-notch rate cut of Italy’s sovereign debt by Moody’s from to Baa2 from A3 has not kept global capital markets investors from some small optimism about the country’s prospects. Italy sold $3.1 billion of three-year notes at a yield of 4.65%. According to MarketWatch, this was down from 5.3% in June. The financial site reported: “Borrowing costs were expected to decline after Italian bond yields pulled back from crisis levels following a European Union summit meeting in late June.”
The positive trend could be short lived, though. Concerns about austerity programs and VAT increases in some countries, which eventually will include Spain and Italy, have caused many experts to believe that, without some stimulus programs, these economies will fall into deeper recessions
Douglas A. McIntyre
