At the end of 2016, the Italian government approved the setting up of an up to 20 billion euros fund to provide financing for banks with problems of solvency and/or liquidity like (MPS). It’s good news for Italy’s financial system and for the country’s risk premium that international funds are showing interest in buying MPS’ unproductive assets.
UBS | As partly anticipated by the press, the government has announced overnight a decree (Italian press release) that allows the state to intervene on banks’ liquidity and capital using the €20bn buffer approved by the parliament. We believe this news is positive for the sector.
“What is clear is that Greece cannot pay its debt and will never pay it. There needs to be an acquittance. And European legislation does not allow for waivering of debt. What they are going to do now, and it should have been done seven years ago, is to modify the conditions in such a way that the debt will be practically waivered,” says Spanish economist Fernando Eguidazu, as he leaves his Foreign Office post of Secretary of State for the European Union.