At the auctions it was customary for the Bank of Italy to submit a bid guaranteeing that all the securities on offer would be taken up at the floor price. Since this was often set above the levels at which the market would have subscribed the whole quantity issued, this obliged the Bank to make systematic interventions and prevented control of liquidity creation.
This is particularly true in the context of the euro area where the regime shift entailed by the introduction of a single currency may affect economic behaviour and institutional structures. Under these conditions it is crucial to ensure that policy decisions be robust and all-encompassing.