What does this policy shift mean for the debt crisis in Europe and the creditworthiness of sovereign borrowers?

Conjecture continued as to whether the European Central Bank was preparing to cap the borrowing costs of troubled sovereign borrowers.

And ratings agency Moody's said the creditworthiness of CEE sovereign borrowers would likely remain steady in 2013 despite the region's vulnerabilities.

Italy is one of the world's biggest sovereign borrowers and has narrowly avoided being sucked into the euro zone debt crisis.

Investors have proved fairly willing throughout the euro zone crisis to take the more limited risk of short-term lending to troubled sovereign borrowers.

For global bond markets may come under greater pressure later this year when large sovereign borrowers raise huge sums to meet their budgetary needs.

With the dam now burst, more sovereign borrowers are likely to emerge, with Egypt the next in line with a deal expected next week.

Green bonds have been around for a decade but sovereign borrowers had been absent from the market, which was traditionally dominated by international development banks.