Italian savings is a necessary condition for economic growth and employment development and for this reason it deserves respect and appreciation. It must be supported both by the State and banks and financial intermediaries with initiatives aimed to improve communication, financial education and...

In Italy the use of bond covenants is restrained by the predominance of SMEs, the significant role of relationship banking, the high costs related to public placements, the lack of investors‘ financial culture, the low amount of loans normally requested by each firm and the lack of liquidity...

This paper aims to stress the importance of market liquidity for the stability of the financial system, emphasizing the pivotal role played by liquidity risk in the development of the current financial crisis, pointing out the flaws of regulation and supervision and stressing the need for their...

The presence of possible distortions caused by a prolonged period of low interest rates indicates that policymakers should raise interest rates as soon as macroeconomic conditions allow. Low interest rates are good for macroeconomic stability in the short run, but could harm long-run financial...

In 2011, Italian businesses and households have faced the Sovereign debt crisis, but savings confirmed its resilience. Since the beginning of the crisis, Italian households’ propensity to save has fallen nearly 1.8 percentage points, although Italy continues to rank above most other...

Despite the decline during the crisis, Italian households savings rate is in line with major European countries and higher than Us and Uk. Conservative portfolios allowed, during the crisis, to contain volatility and to protect wealth, but they are not an optimal choice for recovery. It is...

The continuing statements about the fall in the households’ propensity to save are not based on a deep analysis of the causes, and in particular the tax burden increase, low interest rates, lower protection offered to the workforce. An economic policy aimed to protect savings and to promote...

The crisis has produced its effects on households incomes and on their savings behaviour.The reduction in disposable income and savings is the cost that households pay to compensate delays in the adjustment of public finances and to support businesses investments. A detailed analysis on the...

Monetary policy actions taken over the past three years were key in preventing a financial meltdown. Empirical evidence suggests that central bank bond purchase programmes were effective in lowering bond yields and supporting economic activity. Nevertheless policymakers also need to bear in mind...

In times of extraordinary financial markets tensions, the Ecb can make use of unconventional monetary policy that are by definition exceptional and temporary in nature. These measures aim to preserve credit flows to the euro area economy and to introduce new liquidity management instruments