Italian legal changes ‘to boost PPPs'

New laws introduced in Italy should foster the development of more PPPs and encourage institutional investment, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

Analyst Manuel Dusina stated that the new laws introduce a more innovative and benign legal and fiscal regulatory regime, one that could support the development of a project bond market.

"This should enable Italy to tap into the increasing demand, confidence, and appetite among European and worldwide institutional investors for infrastructure assets that we've observed in other European markets," he said.

He added that the new legal regime should also help to reduce some of the costs previously associated with infrastructure investments and that the country’s ready access to the capital markets should encourage investment.