Eurozone leaders on Friday played down tensions on the debt markets, saying higher borrowing costs were affecting all major economies and rejecting suggestions of any fragmentation within the euro area.
The higher rates are a global phenomenon, across most advanced economies, and are also spreading to some emerging economies, European Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said after a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers in Dublin.
Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Greece’s finance minister, said policymakers were concerned but not alarmed. They do not see any fragmentation within the euro area, he said.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde echoed that view, saying there were no signs of disorderly market moves or unusual stress. She said the rise in yields reflected “a global dynamic affecting all bonds.”
Bond market interest rates have been rising across the world’s major economies, led by the United States, where the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds this week climbed above 5% for the first time since 2007.
The increase reflects investor concern over inflation risks, which have been fuelled by higher energy costs linked to the war in the Middle East.
