MNI BRIEF: Italy Aims At Tourism Minibond's In Friday Bill

Italy's government will approve measures allowing companies in the tourism sector to issue minibonds to help with medium-long term financing, with 80% underwritten by the state as early as Friday, MNI understands. Bonds would be limited to EUR100 million per operation, applying only to companies with less than 500 workers, according to a parliamentary amendment document linked to the EUR32 billion supplementary spending bill.

The hope is to attract institutional investors who understand this space, helping many more firms survive the pandemic's fallout, as the mini-bond issuance could give access to longer-maturity loans than if borrowing from banks.

Alongside the minibonds, Rome hopes to extend the loan moratorium for smaller companies in the torism sector from this coming June to end-2023.