Financial conditions The yields on Italian government bonds have increased steadily since midMay; those on ten-year bonds reached 3.7 per cent, the highest figure since 2014; with respect to the equivalent German bond, the spread currently fluctuates around 300 basis points, compared with the average of about 130 basis points recorded in the first four months of this year (Figure 1).
Between May and August, foreign investors made net sales of Italian securities for a total of € billion, of which € billion concerned public sector securities. This is high, even taking account of the fact that in June and August the net Treasury issues were negative (by € billion overall).