Milan (AP) – Italy’s borrowing rates touched a new euro-era high on Wednesday as a global market sell-off reignited fears that the debt crisis will engulf the eurozone’s third-largest economy.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi will address parliament on the state of the economy in the evening, but opposition parties called for him to step down, saying his lack of economic credibility in the markets was part of the problem.
Spain was also under the market spotlight, forcing Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to delay his vacation by two days to monitor the bleak scenario in the markets.
In a volatile day of trading, Italy’s 10-year borrowing rate briefly spiked to 6.21 percent before easing to 6.04 percent, while Spain’s edged down to 6.18 percent, from Tuesday’s euro-era high of 6.45 percent. Both countries’ yields
have soared in recent days.
The revival of the debt crisis is mainly due to a global sell-off by traders of any investments that appear risky – such as the bonds of Italy and Spain.
