The Italian Treasury Ministry announced Monday that it would be closing the sale of the BTP Italia retail bond ahead of schedule. This is because on the first day of the offer, the bond sale was able to raise Eur9 billion or US$11.8 billion.

The sale of the of the fourth batch of retail bonds was supposed to end on April 16 at 1530 GMT. The move of Treasury was two days before the deadline set.

When the last tranche of the BTP Italia bond was sold last October, it raised Eur2.5 billion on the first day of marketing  before closing at a record Eur18 billion. This was the record setting amount ever achieved on a single debt offer to the market.

According to Maria Cannata, the head of Italy's Debt Management Office, the first day was a 'success' and there would be a definite spillover effect for the rest of the Italian market.