Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Euro zone bond yields fell on Monday, pulling back from multi-month highs as markets took time out from a recent sharp selloff.
A recovering economy that could encourage the European Central Bank to slow the pace of its emergency bond purchases, a pick up in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout that boosts the growth outlook and rising U.S. inflation have renewed upward pressure on sovereign bond yields.
German 10-year Bund yields last week rose almost 10 basis points, the biggest one-week rise since February. Italian yields climbed almost 16 bps in their biggest weekly jump in over a year.
French 10-yr yields top 0.3% for first time since March 2020 Spain, Portugal yields at highest in almost a year Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr (Updates prices)
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Italian borrowing costs rose on Monday to the highest in over eight months, leading a selloff across the euro zone on concerns over Italy’s reform path and the possibility that the ECB might slow the pace of its bond-buying stimulus in coming months.
Investors are increasingly pricing the possibility that economic recovery, fuelled by rapid COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, could encourage the European Central Bank to slow the pace of its emergency PEPP bond purchases.
By Reuters Staff
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ATHENS, May 17 (Reuters) - Greece will help its key tourist industry with an additional financial package worth more than 400 million euros ($486 million), the country’s finance minister said on Monday. The country, which generates about a fifth of its economic output from tourism, officially opened the sector on Saturday, hoping to save the summer season after revenues collapsed last year due to restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
“There will be a targeted support plan for tourism,” Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told a Greek radio station. “It is estimated to cost more than 400 million euros.”
By Reuters Staff
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ATHENS, May 17 (Reuters) - Greece’s central government posted a wider-than-expected primary budget deficit of 6.21 billion euros ($7.54 billion) in the first four months of the year due to lower tax revenues, finance ministry data showed on Monday.
The government was targeting a primary budget gap, which excludes debt-servicing costs, of 5.24 billion euros for the January-April period.
“The budget had not taken into account protracted, months-long lockdowns for 2021, so the shortfall has been expected and largely limited,” Deputy Finance Minister Theodore Skylakakis told a briefing.
Greece has extended COVID-19 restrictions several times since last year to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which hurt its economy shortly after it had emerged from a decade-long debt crisis.
Chile's markets plunged on Monday after voters propelled leftist and independent groups to victory in an election over who will draft a planned new constitution, a major blow to the center-right ruling coalition that fared far worse than expected.