Mario Monti has been able to convince the markets that Italy is no riskier than Spain.
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| Spanish vs. Italian spreads |
It's impressive how much a change in leadership can accomplish in terms of rebuilding confidence. So far the Italian government seems to be behind him.
Reuters: Italy's technocrat government won a confidence vote on Thursday on measures to cut bureaucracy, confirming Prime Minister Mario Monti still commands a comfortable majority after tensions rose this week among the parties that back him.
The government won the vote by 479 to 75 in the Chamber of Deputies on the so-called "simplification decree" - a package of measures designed to make it easier to change residence, obtain documents and set up new companies, among other things.
The measures, which were presented in January, now move to the Senate where they must be approved by the end of March.
Monti's wide margin in his 10th confidence vote since taking office four months ago should give him some reassurance after he expressed concern on Thursday about tensions in his broad parliamentary majority.
After speaking about the fall in yield spreads between Italian and German bonds, he said: "I hope the spread is not widening among the parties that support the government, because this could hinder us in fixing public accounts".
SoberLook.com