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Workers rebuild a road in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012. Italy shrugged off uncertainty about its political and financial future Wednesday when it easily sold Ä6.5 billion ($8.45 billion) in 12-month bonds at lower interest rates on Wednesday, Monti insisted that efforts to regain Italy's credibility abroad and in financial markets were the best prescription for jump-starting the ailing economy. Encouraging the country's industrialists to keep up exports, Monti said that "a credible country is the best ally for those who have the courage to push the frontier of their own activities beyond national borders", but in a further sign of Italy's stagnant economic climate, the national statistics bureau ISTAT said that home sales slumped more than 23 percent in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period a year earlier. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)