In 2008, on the eve of the crisis, three-quarters of Portuguese debt, one-half of Spanish and Greek debt, and more than two-fifths of Italian debt was held by foreigners, with foreign banks holding a significant proportion, especially in the case of Greece, Portugal, and Italy. One consequence of the ECB’s large-scale long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) has been that Italian banks are once again buying Italian government bonds, and Spanish banks are buying Spanish bonds.
2008年危机爆发前夕，葡萄牙债务的四分之三、西班牙和希腊债务的一半以及意大利债务的五分之二多由外国人持有，其中外国银行是大头，特别是希腊、葡萄牙和意大利债。欧洲央行的大规模长期再融资操作（LTRO）的一大成果是意大利银行再次开始购买意大利国债，西班牙银行也在购买西班牙债券。