By Sara Rossi MILAN, Oct 24 (Reuters) – Italian small savers showed healthy appetite for a retail bond offered by the Treasury this week, boosting Rome's efforts to manage its huge debt pile. The Treasury raised 16.6 billion euros ($19.36 billion) from a seven-year "BTP Valore" bond for retail investors only which was sold from Monday to Friday, Bourse data showed. The response from households and non-financial firms was stronger than in two similar sales held earlier this year. The Treasury raised 14.9 billion euros from an 8-year "BTP Plus" bond in February and 6.53 billion from an inflation-linked "BTP Italia" note in May. "The final demand has clearly surpassed expectations, retail investors are reaffirming their enthusiasm for bonds designed specifically for them," said Federica De Giorgis, senior advisor at Ersel private bank. Italy's debt, proportionally the euro zone's second-largest after Greece's, stood in August at over 3 trillion euros, Bank of Italy data showed. Since the euro zone debt crisis in 2012, Italy has been issuing bonds for retail investors in the belief that they are less likely to withdraw their cash than foreigners at times of market stress. The strategy has been successful, with the proportion of the debt in the hands of small savers reaching around 15% in July, Bank of Italy data showed, doubling from around 7% in the same month of 2022. De Giorgis said the latest retail bond had drawn a larger proportion of hefty individual orders than for similar past sales, as apparently wealthy Italians gave a vote of confidence in the country's political stability and public finances. "The average order exceeded 30,000 euros, with several above 5 million euros, and even some surpassing 15 million euros," De Giorgis said. The Treasury confirmed the annual coupons at 2.6% for the first three years, at 3.1% for the following two, and at 4% for the last two years. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (editing by Gavin Jones)
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