Italy's Monti calls for help on borrowing

Euro zone leaders should do more to help lower Italy's borrowing costs, the country's prime minister Mario Monti said in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday.

Monti urged Germany, a major creditor, to realise it was in "its own enlightened self-interest" to help lower the borrowing costs of Italy and other highly indebted governments.

Italy, which had its debt downgraded two notches by Standard & Poor's on Friday, has endured austerity budgetary measures and structural reforms in the last two months, aimed at making its economy more competitive in order to boost growth.

Monti called for euro zone creditors to recognise Italian economic policy progress, and said he wanted a "visible improvement" in its 10-year borrowing costs of around 7 percent, widely viewed as unsustainable for an economy saddled with a debt of around 120 percent of GDP.

"If this strong movement towards discipline and stability is not recognised as taking place … then there will be a powerful backlash in the countries which are being submitted to a huge effort of discipline," he said, without going into further detail on the possible reaction from other countries.