Monday, January 16, 2012

Who will be allowed to lend to Italy?

Acting Man blog points out the following:

 As one analyst interviewed by Reuters perceptively remarked, Italy remains the elephant in the room. It is now rated BBB+, but it remains on 'negative watch' at Fitch and Moody's, which makes further downgrades likely. The big problem is of course that Italy's debt represents the third biggest sovereign bond issuance extant in the world and that it needs to refinance a hefty chunk of this debt this year. Fewer and fewer institutions can effectively hold on to Italy's debt as it receives further downgrades, as all have to follow their internal rules on what grades of debt they can hold in what quantities. So this is likely going to become a major focus.

Meantime in Rome the appointed President of the EU Council Herman Van Rompuy had this to say to the appointed apparatchik Signor Monti, presently running Italy:

 ...today marks your first 60 days in office and what you and Italy have already accomplished is impressive. I'm sure you will be able to present your "first 100 days" achievements with even more extraordinary results. The Italian agenda is the European agenda. There is no distinction or tension between what is pursued here in Rome and what we are pursuing in Brussels. Italy - a founding member of the Union - is acting in the right direction and making once more its contribution for a better and more prosperous Europe....

Which comment will history prove the most perceptive?

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