MILAN: International investors are reassured by recent reforms in Italy and are returning to buy Italian sovereign bonds, the head of Italy's debt management agency said on Wednesday.
Investors who had found Italy too big a risk given the crisis context "are now realising there is a difference between countries in difficulty," debt agency head Maria Cannata told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
"In speaking with (the investors), I noticed that they appreciated the reforms made by Italy and that they are less preoccupied by the length of time it takes (these reforms) to affect growth," she said.
Cannata said that foreign buyers had begun returning to Italian bonds in August "but limited themselves to the shortest maturities, three years maximum," she said.
In September, buyers moved up to longer maturities "and this is very positive," Cannata said, though she cautioned that the spread or difference between Italian and German borrowing prices remained too wide.
"This obviously creates problems for the real economy as this increases the cost of credit for Italy and creates differences in treatment," she said.
Cannata added that Italy had raised 80 percent of its debt requirements for the year.
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