Borrowing costs, lowest rates since 2012 – Four billion in three-year treasury bonds sold at a yield of 2.8%, the lowest since October 2012. Last week, the foreign press focused on lowered rates in the most recent bond auction. The Financial Times reported the drop in an article on September 13 ( Italy’s borrowing costs hit two-year lows*), while the Spanish Expansion underlined that the rates of ten-year bonds have also fallen for the first time since March, to below 5% (September 14 – El interés del bono de Italia baja del 5% por primera vez desde marzo). The credit – as the Washington Post as well as the German Handelsblatt and Die Welt pointed out – goes to the announcement made by the Central European Bank (September 12 and 13 in Washington Post – Italy pays lower borrowing costs in bond auction, sign that ECB bond-purchase plan eases fears; Handelsblatt – Italien zahlt niedrigere Rendite für Anleihen ; Die Welt – Krisenländer kommen jetzt billiger zu Geld). There were also articles on the Frankfurt-based bank president, Mario Draghi. The New York Times ran a far-reaching profile, with another play on the nickname “Super Mario” (September 10 – Super Mario to the Rescue) and the Wall Street Journal underscored that the moves of the ECB also unblocked the corporate European bond market, increasing possible liquidity for the continent’s businesses. (September 10 – Super Mario Unblocks Europe’s Bond Market; translated in El Mundo – Super Mario desbloquea el mercado europeo de bonos corporativos). Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, interviewed by the Washington Post, commented that for now Italy has no intention of asking for help from the ECB (September 10 – Mario Monti, interim Italian prime minister, talks with Lally Weymouth).
Industry, food, fashion: Italian companies in the world – As Europe looks for a way out of the crisis, Italian groups are wagering on emerging markets. While waiting for the announcement of the October plan for strategies for European factories, Fiat is accelerating its approach to new markets: the Wall Street Journal (September 13 – Fiat’s New China Model) and the South China Morning Post (September 13 – Fiat returns to mainland with new compact car*) reported on the new model, “Viaggio,” that the Turin-based car manufacturer is launching on the Chinese market. And the Argentinean La Nacion turned its attention to the Italian car maker’s sale in Brazil (September 8 – Fiat rompe los récords).
While Lavazza, one of the largest food groups, is investing in the US coffee producer Green Mountain (Wall Street Journal, September 11- Green Mountain Shares Bolstered by Lavazza’s Move), international papers also focused on fashion. La Vanguardia wrote of the revamping of the Gucci stores (September 11 – Gucci honra su origen*), while ABC interviewed designer Robverto Cavalli on the occasion of the opening of his first store in Madrid (September 14 – Roberto Cavalli «Me gusta copiar las creaciones de Dios, el gran diseñador»).
Sports and tourism in Italy – The foreign press also pointed the spotlight on two Italian athletes, after the US open victory of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, (September 9 in the Washington Post – Italy’s Errani and Vinci win US Open women’s doubles title, beating Hlavackovav and Hradecka and Wall Street Journal – Errani, Vinci win US Open women’s doubles title). And, finally, there were articles about tourism in Italy. Brazil’s Valor Economico took a culinary, but not only, journey to Parma (11 settembre – Ópera com prosciutto e parmigiano), and the German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung visited the Gulf of Naples to admire the city and its islands (September 11 – Wo die rote Sonne im Meer versinkt).
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