Italy again sees higher borrowing costs at auction
Italy again sees slightly higher borrowing costs at bond auction, demand slightly less
ROME (AP) -- Italy's borrowing costs have risen for the second day in a row in a pair of bond auctions that also failed to raise as much money as expected.
The Italian Treasury said Friday it raised €5.88 billion ($7.8 billion) in its auction of 10- and 5-year bonds, shy of the €6 billion target. The interest rates on the 10-year debt rose from 4.45 percent last month to 4.48 percent while the rate for five-year bonds was 3.26 percent, up from the 3.23 percent.
Italy also saw its borrowing costs inch up in Thursday's auction of six-month paper. The country had been enjoying several months of falling interest rates thanks to reforms introduced by Premier Mario Monti and the European Central Bank's offer to buy up bonds.
