Italian citizens and businesses bought a record number of state bonds on Monday during commission-free "BTP Day," backed by the national banking association to restore markets' confidence.
The Milan Stock Exchange said in a statement that 80,962 multi-year treasury bonds (BTP) worth nearly 2.6 billion euros (over 3.4 billion U.S. dollars) were bought.
A large portion of the purchases of the state bonds were made by ordinary households, according to the Italian press.
The BTP Day, during which banks, traders and the stock exchange did not apply commissions, was launched in an attempt to help ease the international crisis of confidence towards the Italian debt-burdened economy.
Originally proposed by a businessman Giuliano Melani, the initiative was supported by the Italian Banking Association (ABI) as well as by the Milan Stock Exchange, and will be repeated on Dec. 12.
Earlier this month, Melani had called ordinary people to buy state bonds to show that "Italians are one people, a great people who is not afraid and believes in Italy."
"The BTP Day's results are absolutely satisfying. This is a sign that Italians have faith in our country and its ability to recover," the chairman of Italy's largest bank Unicredit, Gabriele Piccini, was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency.
