Renewed market tensions in the eurozone's periphery, particularly in Italy, and dimming growth prospects have in our view led to further deterioration in the operating environment for Italy's banks. We think funding costs for the banks will increase noticeably because of higher yields on Italian sovereign debt. Furthermore, higher funding costs for both the banking and corporate sectors are likely to result in tighter credit conditions and weaker economic activity in the short-to-medium term. We are revising downward our Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) on the Republic of Italy (unsolicited ratings, A/Negative/A-1) to Group 3 from Group 2, and lowering the economic risk score, a subcomponent of the BICRA, to 3 from 2. We are taking negative rating actions
