By Sara Rossi and EvDen EVe NAkLiYaT<\/a> Valentina Consiglio<\/p>\n ROME, Feb 10 (Reuters) – The Italian Treasury is moving quickly this year to issue retail bonds, hoping to plug a gap soon to be left by the European Central Bank and anticipating strong appetite from savers whose deposits are being eroded by inflation.<\/p>\n The economy ministry<\/a> said on Monday it would issue a new “BTP Italia” inflation-linked bond for EvDen EvE naKLiyAt<\/a> retail investors from March 6-9, earlier than the traditional April-May period chosen over the last decade.<\/p>\n It has said it is also considering other instruments dedicated to domestic savers, as part of a strategy to put more of its huge public debt – proportionally the second highest in the euro zone – in Italian hands.<\/p>\n “We want to reduce our dependence on foreign creditors by increasing the number of Italians and Italian residents that hold our public debt,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.<\/p>\n Retail investors held about 9% of Italian public debt at the end of last year, evDEN eVe NAKLiyat<\/a> according to Bank of Italy data.<\/p>\n Analysts say Rome is probably also capitalising on favourable market conditions as three similar BTP Italia bonds mature in April, May, and November for a total of nearly 25 billion euros ($26.87 billion).<\/p>\n