Free Republic

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has said his country does not need a bailout, even though its borrowing costs have soared amid contagion from Spain, whose recent bailout has failed to calm markets. "Italy, even in the future, will not need aid from the European Financial Stability Fund," Monti said in an interview with the German Public Radio ARD on Tuesday (12 June). He called on investors and market analysts "not to be governed by clichés or prejudices" and argued that his country has left its "undisciplined" past behind and is doing more to put its house in order than...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti met the leaders of the parties backing him in parliament on Tuesday and called on them to give their unified support to help Italy through current market turmoil. Monti said in a statement he was "worried by the situation of emergency" on financial markets, and had told the party chiefs that "cohesion" was needed "to overcome the critical situation and give an image of unity abroad". Italian borrowing costs have risen sharply since the weekend agreement by eurozone finance ministers to lend up to €100 billion to recapitalize Spain's banks, with speculation rife that Italy...

Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to lend Spain up to €100 billion ($125 billion) to shore up its teetering banks, and Madrid said it would specify precisely how much it needs once independent audits report in just over a week. After a 2½-hour conference call of the 17 finance ministers, which several sources described as heated, the Eurogroup and Madrid said the amount of the bailout would be sufficiently large to banish any doubts. "The loan amount must cover estimated capital requirements with an additional safety margin, estimated as summing up to €100 billion in total," a Eurogroup statement...