Monti Says Italy’s Yield Level Caused by External Euro Concerns

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said the country’s elevated bond yields are a result of external concern about the future of the euro as his budget cuts have failed to ease investor tension amid a contracting economy.

The Cabinet was aiming for “a quicker drop in yields that could have helped the Italian economy recover,” Monti said today in a speech in Rimini, Italy. That didn’t happen “for a number of reasons that were not so much about Italy but due to lower confidence toward a problem-free continuation of the euro, and without the risk of any country exiting.”