“Italy sold 8.5 billion euros ($11.1 billion) of one-year Treasury bills at the lowest in three years as bond investors bet that caretaker Prime Minister Mario Monti’s economic policies will continue even if he doesn’t become premier for a second time.
The Treasury in Rome today sold the 365-day bills at 0.864 percent, down from 1.456 percent at the previous auction of similar-maturity debt Dec. 12 and the lowest since Jan. 12, 2010. Investors bid for 1.79 times the amount of bills offered, down from 1.94 times last month.
Even if Monti’s coalition of centrist parties has little chance of winning the Feb. 24-25 vote, markets seem convinced his policies will remain in place after the elections. Opinion polls show the center-left bloc led by the Democratic Party’s Pier Luigi Bersani probably will win a comfortable majority in the Chamber of Deputies, thought it may fall short of a majority in the Senate and need Monti’s support to govern….”
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