Yields and passions rise on Italian bonds

ROME, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Italian businessman Luca di Montezemolo called for Premier Silvio Berlusconi to resign Monday after yields on Italian bonds soared.

The five-year Italian bonds posted a euro-era record with the spread between those and German five-year bonds reaching 5.9 percent, a high since 1999 when the euro was introduced, ANSA reported Monday.

Ten-year Italian bonds were yielding 6.14 percent, widely considered an unsustainable cost of borrowing, the Italian news agency said.

"We are at a point of no return," di Montezemolo, chairman of Ferrari, wrote in an article published in La Republica. "There is not a minute to lose.

"The private savings of Italians, social unity and Italy's membership in the euro system are all at risk."

Montezemolo blamed Berlusconi for allowing yields to top 6 percent, ANSA reported.