ROME—Italy had to offer significantly higher interest rates to sell its bonds Thursday, a sign of the rising anxiety surrounding Italy’s finances and its leaders’ looming clash with the European Union over its budget plans.
The Italian Treasury sold €6.5 billion ($7.5 billion) of bonds of different maturities, yielding up to 3.79%. Some bonds with the same maturity yielded significantly less at auctions in July and September, indicating that investors now view Italy as a riskier bet.
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