Portugal shifts half of funding programme to savers
Belgium expects 10fold rise in retail debt sales
Individuals now own 14 of Spanish Treasury bills

June 23 Reuters Savers across the euro zone are dashing for government debt to secure returns on their cash as banks struggle to keep up with surging interest rates.

Leading the way is Italy, which sold a record 18.2 billion euro retail bond this month to increase domestic holdings of its debt.

But that39;s just the tip of the iceberg.

Portugal has shifted half of this year39;s funding to savers, Belgium expects a ninefold increase in retail bond sales, and Spanish savers are piling into Treasury bills.

The scale of demand is a surprise to debt managers and underscores the rapid return of savers to dedicated debt programmes that they have shown little interest in for a decade.

Their return marks the latest structural shift since high inflation drove the European Central Bank to pull out of negative rates and hike borrowing costs steadily over the last year.

For issuers, it39;s a sign of confidence that new buyers are moving in as the ECB winds down its bond holdings.

We thought that these movements somehow would lose steam, because savings are limited, said Rui Amaral, board member at Portugal39;s debt agency.

Portugal is growing fast… but savings are not growing as fast as for us to have foreseen a continuing surge in these retail investments.

Having planned 3.5 billion euros for the whole year, Portugal…