Italy’s Treasury on Wednesday night began the process of rolling over €50bn ($79bn, £39bn) of debt up to early May, knowing that tough market conditions are driving up the cost of borrowing but expressing confidence in the outcome of the next series of bond auctions.

The centre-left government has succeeded in cutting Italy’s enormous debt burden to 103 per cent of gross domestic product, the highest in the eurozone, but it still has to pay €70bn a year in interest.