The term spread in financial language indicates the difference between supply and demand.
The spread can also be defined as the difference between bid and ask.
In recent years, the term spread has often indicated the difference between the interest rates paid by Italian debt securities and their German counterparts with the same duration.
Germany is considered by operators to be the most reliable country in the Eurozone in repaying subscribers to its bond issues. The spread is therefore a useful indicator for understanding the degree of confidence investors have in the riskiness of a debt issuer.
When we talk about spread we are referring to the differences in returns on the secondary market, i.e. on the Mot and Mts segments of the Italian Stock Exchange. The ECB is also active on the secondary market, first with the SMP (Securities Markets Program) and the new OMT.
