Nervous investors pay to lend to Italy

``The negative yield for Italian debt means investors are now paying to lend to a country which has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in the world and has long been a byword for fiscal profligacy. It marks a dramatic turnround for Italy's short-dated borrowing rate which hit 8.12 per cent at the height of the eurozone debt crisis. One factor driving down bond yields in countries like Germany, France and Ireland is Mr Draghi's hint last week that the ECB was prepared to cut the deposit rate, which it charges on reserves parked in its coffers, in a bid to stimulate the eurozone economy and drive up inflation.''