Casa Monal's activity

  Italy sells bonds at record high of 6% at auction   Italy's cost of borrowing has reached a record high, despite the deal reached to contain the eurozone debt crisis. Italy paid 6.06% to borrow for 10 years at an auction on Friday, the most since the euro was created in 1999. The rate jumped from 5.86% - the previous record high - at its last auction a month ago. The auction came as stock markets failed to follow up on their global rally on Thursday, with shares in many European banks turning lower. An interest rate of 6% and higher is generally considered to be unsustainable. The Italian Treasury also failed to meet its borrowing target, having hoped to sell as much as 8.5bn euros ($12.1bn, £7.5bn) of bonds. They only sold 7.9bn euros of the 10-year benchmark debt.   Italy concerns Italy has the highest total debt in the eurozone, amid stagnant growth. But Italy has the advantage of having most of its debt owed to its own people rather than external investors. This buys it more breathing room than, say, heavily-indebted Greece. Losses on the Italian stock market increased after the auction results were announced.   On Thursday, eurozone leaders agreed to expand the single currency's bailout fund to 1tn euros, and to take measures to recapitalise banks.   Stock reaction Earlier, banking stocks such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland rose for the second day. But they turned lower as the trading day went on. "The best we can say is that the EU have engineered a temporary reprieve but there is no guarantee of a final resolution to the crisis," said Neil MacKinnon of VTB Capital. Lloyds Banking Group closed down 5.2%, Barclays fell 4.2% and RBS dropped 3.6%. In Germany, Commerzbank lost 4.3%. However, French banks ended the day higher, with Credit Agricole climbing 3.7%, BNP Paribas gaining 3.5% and Societe Generale rising 1.7%. Under the terms of the Brussels deal thrashed out by EU leaders, banks must raise more capital to protect themselves against losses resulting from any future defaults. At the same time, some banks accepted a loss of 50% on their Greek debt.

Thanks very much for the info Sabina  Yep guility as charged ...we didn't know that non residents are charged at a higher rate for electricity   But we did know about the different tariffs.  Enel sent us an emailI also asked if anyone is with Italy Powered in this thread 

  Members’ individual posts are subjective and always open to personal interpretation. There's no question that the personal relationships we develop on a forum make a big difference in how certain posts are viewed by members but for me being a forum member is about thoughtful behaviour. This is our forum. It is every one’s responsibility to do whatever is called for to make it a happy and welcoming place. It is not something that just happens; it is something that we all make happen. ‘Admin’ are not solely responsible. I agree that someone should be responsible for establishing and monitoring posts, threads, articles, reviews etc, but all members are responsible for the success. Our contributions and responsibility as a member goes far beyond posting. Being part of a forum means interacting with other members.  And if all else fails…try sitting on your hands 

  Numbers are not my strong point. I just about understand all the statistics and percentages quoted. What I do understand though is that once again we are trusting banks to resolve the Greece and Europe crisis. It just beggar’s belief!  The banks are primarily responsible for the world financial crisis, thanks to their stupid investments. Governments don’t have money, so it’s us hardworking taxpayers who are paying for their mistakes.  Let’s hope that today’s deal is a bailout for Greece and a deal to save Europe and not the banks.

  How awful and scary 

  I just did a search and there are four threads about electricity. I’ll use this one as it is the most recent one Is anyone with this company? and/or Has anyone switched from their current supplier to ItalyPowered.com? Is it ‘normal’ or standard practice to pay a one fee to switch suppliers?  

  What's the matter with Italy? The country that seems to crop up more and more in the current eurozone discussions is Italy, but why should it be affected by the Greek crisis?   Greece's debt problems are already widely known, and the immediate consequences of a Greek default largely anticipated. Moreover, the size of the Greek economy is small enough that the direct damage if Greece stopped paying its debts should be quite manageable for the eurozone. Instead, the big fear is "contagion" - that a Greek default could trigger a financial catastrophe for other, much bigger economies. And Italy seems to have ousted Spain as the lead candidate for that contagion. Why is that? Prudent Italy? According to Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, "Italy has great economic strength, but Italy does also have a very high level of debt and that has to be reduced in a credible way in the years ahead." As with Greece, she and other eurozone leaders believe the solution is more government austerity - spending cuts and tax rises - by Rome. However, some economists might disagree with her assessment. The Italian government's debt, at 118% of GDP (annual economic output) is certainly high, even by European standards.   But dig a little deeper, and the picture changes. Unlike their counterparts in Spain or the Irish Republic, ordinary Italians have not run up huge mortgages, and generally have very little debt. That means that according to the Bank of International Settlements Italy as a country - not just a government - is not actually terribly indebted compared with other big economies such as France, Canada or the UK. Moreover, the large debts of the Italian government are nothing new. It has got by just fine with a debt ratio over 100% of its GDP ever since 1991. The main reason is because - unlike Greece - Italy is actually quite financially prudent. The government spends less on providing public services and benefits to its people than it earns in taxes, and has been doing so every year since 1992, except for the recession year of 2009. Indeed, the only reason Italy continues to borrow at all is to meet the principal and interest payments on its existing debts. Grim outlook So why is Italy in trouble now? The reason is because its economy is so weak. Italy is plagued by poor regulation, vested business interests, an ageing population, and weak investment, all of which have conspired to limit the country's ability to increase production. The country has averaged an abysmal 0.75% economic growth rate over the past 15 years. That is much lower than the rate of interest it pays on its debts. And this creates a risk that the government's debt load could grow more quickly than the Italian economy's capacity to support it. In the past, this risk has not materialised, thanks to Italy's relatively high inflation rate, which has steadily pushed up the government's tax revenues. But now the outlook is much more grim. Self-fulfilling prophecy Like other southern European economies, Italian wage levels rose too quickly during the good years, and left Italy uncompetitive versus Germany and other northern economies within the eurozone.   That lack of competitiveness is likely to mean many years of even weaker growth and low inflation, as Italian workers find their pay is frozen, or even cut, until they regain a price advantage over German workers. But lower growth and inflation suddenly make the Italian government's debt load look much less sustainable. Further government spending cuts are likely to hurt the economy even more, and - as Greece is discovering - may not even do much to improve the government's borrowing needs if they lead to a sharp rise in unemployment. That scary outlook has freaked out markets, and lenders are demanding a much higher interest rate from Italy in order to lend it the new money it needs to repay its old debts as they come due. But of course this higher cost of borrowing makes Italy's debts look even less sustainable. That means the market's loss of confidence in Italy could well end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. If nobody will lend to Italy, then Italy cannot repay its debts. And if Italy cannot repay its debts, then nobody will lend to it. And if markets do panic, and switch their money out of Italian debt into "safe" German debt, Italy would need an enormous bailout that would dwarf the eurozone's current 440bn-euro rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.

25 October 2011 Last updated at 13:00 GMT    

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Italy government at risk, says Umberto Bossi Italy's government could fall because of disagreements over economic reforms, one of Silvio Berlusconi's coalition partners has warned. Northern League leader Umberto Bossi said the government was "at risk" and the country faced a "dangerous time". His party, the main coalition partner, has rejected proposals to increase the pension age to 67 years. Mr Berlusconi's EU partners are demanding concrete action by Wednesday to reassure markets. 'Dramatic time' Eurozone leaders are due to hold a summit in Brussels on Wednesday to devise a strategy to confront the area's worsening debt crisis. They are expected to agree a plan to reduce Greece's debt burden, strengthen European banks to withstand bond losses and scale up the eurozone rescue fund. At a meeting over the weekend, Mr Berlusconi was publicly reproached by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said that it was vital for Italy's public debt "to be reduced in a credible manner in the coming years". Raising the retirement age is one of the key economic reforms demanded by the country's EU partners as a condition for supporting Italy's bonds. But Mr Bossi dismissed the idea, saying: "I'm not touching our pensions, which are fine, to bring up the age to 67 just to please the Germans." He has also dismissed the idea of a government of technocrats being installed to push through reforms. "The government is at risk," Mr Bossi told reporters in parliament on Tuesday. "The situation is difficult, very dangerous. This is a dramatic time," he said. As the coalition parties held separate meetings, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said in a statement that the country must do everything to reduce the risk to government bonds by making its determination to cut public debt more credible. For the first time, Silvio Berlusconi has also raised the possibility that he might step down from the political stage after dominating Italian politics for 17 years. "I hope the conditions arise where I can leave the responsibility of the presidency to others, perhaps remaining within the party as its founding father," Mr Berlusconi is reported as saying, according to La Repubblica newspaper. "Whatever happens I will do what my party and the coalition ask of me." Italy, the third largest economy in the eurozone, needs to issue some 600bn euros (£520bn; $835bn) in bonds over the next three years to refinance maturing debt.   David Willey BBC News, Rome In Brussels over the weekend Mr Berlusconi was given an ultimatum - he was told to go back to Rome and produce a credible plan by Wednesday. He passed an austerity budget back in August but it does not seem to have convinced the market. Since then, there has been a lot of political infighting and his popularity has reached an all-time low. There is no overall plan in Italy - neither a plan A nor a plan B - and people in Brussels are getting a bit impatient. They see that he cannot deliver, which is putting him in a difficult political position at home.

Good Luck with your move  We're 'just up the road' from you but not permanently  We have English/Italian friends who run a B&B in Pigna who love meeting new people.  Send me a pm if you want their contact details.  

   Flip…a few adjustments and it could be a good ad to buy Italy. Perhaps we should ask ourselves ‘’what can I do to make this a better forum’ But in all seriousness, this IS a good forum. There is a database full of valuable information submitted by members. In 99% of cases, I always find the answers or the information I am looking for so there is no need to start a new thread. I don’t live in Italy. I work fulltime which includes travelling. I try and contribute when I have time by sharing relevant information but as I said there is so much information here already, that there is no point in duplicating it. It would be nice though if admin merged duplicate threads as I often come across information by chance. We have also met some lovely people thanks to this forum  Gr8 story Alma…I think I may have been tempted to run of with the pilgrim and ditch the OH It seems quite normal for the forum to be quiet especially at a time when Italy is in deep financial trouble. The situation as it is doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the Italian market.