The credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's, really didn't like the 47 billion maneuver presented by the Italian government. Nor to the securities markets, if it is true that S&P's judgment on the risk of maintaining the Italian debt was promptly reflected in the quotation of BTPs, the main securities issued by the Italian Treasury. The differential (spread) between the yield of these coupons and their German equivalent, the Bunds, represents the relative risk of an Italian default versus a German bankruptcy. In recent days, the spread had risen to over 200 basis points, the highest figure in the last 15 years. This means that an Italian bond must pay 2% more interest than a 10-year bond issued by Berlin.
In the morning, the BTP spread rose by 3 basis points from 183 to 186. A significant datum and in contrast: in the same period of time Ireland, Portugal and Spain recorded an improvement in trust in them and a reduction in their spread against the Bund by about 4 points.
