Italian banks have become "more cautious" by reducing their overall exposure to public debt. A factor that could protect them from current market tensions. More than four years ago, in January, a few weeks before the start of the Covid pandemic, the country's credit institutions held BOTs and BTPs for approximately 628 billion euros, or 25.7% of the total; today, the amount is roughly 632 billion, with the share falling to just under 22%. Given the market tensions following the European elections and in France, banks' lower exposure to the 'tricolor' public debt is a condition that may protect them in the coming weeks from market tensions, particularly the consequences of the trend in the spread between Italian BTPs and German Bunds. Banks' attitudes toward the purchase of Italian government bonds have changed and are oriented towards greater prudence, even if the banking sector remains a guarantee for Treasury bond purchases: the record was reached in April 2020, in the midst of the lockdown, when banks reached, at the time, 687 billion, nearly 28% of the total. The highest absolute peak occurred in June 2022, when banks' portfolios contained more than 712 billion BOTs and BTPs. Today, a more prudent attitude is generally embraced.
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