Who is buying peripheral euro-zone countries' bonds?
The yield spreads of the peripheral euro-zone countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece) relative to the core euro-zone countries do not reflect the sovereign risk of the peripheral countries (level of public debt, low potential growth, structural problems: skills, education, innovation, modernisation). This raises the question as to who is buying these countries' bonds despite their abnormally low yield spreads. Is it only the ECB (the European System of Central Banks), or other investors, and which ones and why? Most of the peripheral countries’ debt purchases have been made by the ECB since 2015, which may be cause for concern regarding the trend in spreads once the ECB stops its purchases.