Philippines: investment grade (x2)
The Philippines has some news to cheer: Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency, has bumped up its credit rating one notch to ‘BBB-’.
Which means it has become the second agency after Fitch to put the country’s long term foreign debt at investment grade. One is good news; how significant is two? Continue reading »
Belarus: cash needed fast, but where from?
We need more than that
Belarus is in a tight spot. The country has reached a peak in foreign government debt repayments and it needs $3.1bn to repay its earlier loans and sovereign eurobonds. This is a substantial amount of cash, taking into account that as of April 1, the country’s international reserve assets stood at just $8.1bn.
So what are the options? Continue reading »
Fitch downgrades China – just a little local difficulty?
That’s how Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group (and an FT columnist) reacted to news that Fitch Ratings lowered China from AA- to A+ on Tuesday. There were plenty of other worried and puzzled reactions. But how great a worry is it really? Continue reading »
[video] Another Argentine default looms?
The final judgement in the legal battle between hedge funds and Argentina is on the horizon – a case that is pivotal to the sovereign debt market. Robin Wigglesworth, capital markets correspondent, discusses with Michael Stothard whether the outcome could trigger another Argentine default.
In October last year, beyondbrics wrote of a sub-Saharan debt rush – partly based on Zambia’s successful issue, and on investors’ hunt for yield and diversification.
But now there is now talk of “original sin” – excessive borrowing in non-domestic currency; yields have increased and spreads have widened. What’s going on? Chart of the week takes a look. Continue reading »
Ghana: Africa’s star economy loses a little sparkle
A stable democracy, rule of law, rapid economic growth and almost all the other tick-boxes, plus new oil discoveries, have won Ghana a lot of fans lately.
So it’s worth paying attention to anything which goes against the sunny narrative (leaving aside its continued under-performance in the Africa Cup of Nations, which can now almost be taken as given). This comes in the form of two recent reports from rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s.
Continue reading »
Kazakhstan: dipping a toe back in the debt market
Kazakhstan will issue 150bn Tenge ($996m) of eurobonds this year in its first venture onto international capital markets in over a decade.
The oil-rich central Asian country said it would take advantage of historically low foreign borrowing costs to help plug a budget deficit and set a benchmark for Kazakh corporates hoping to raise funds in 2013. Continue reading »
[snap] Fitch downgrades South Africa
Rating agency Fitch has downgraded South Africa to BBB from BBB+, staying one notch above investment grade. The country is on a stable outlook, meaning that no further downgrades are imminent.
Fitch joins S&P, which downgraded the country’s debt in October, also to BBB, and Moody’s which in September downgraded the country from A3 to Baa1. Continue reading »
Chile: on a par with China, ratings-wise
Already considered the safest bet for investors in Latin American sovereign debt, the government of Chile received a nod of approval from the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s on Wednesday, as its long-term foreign currency credit rating was notched up to AA-.
This puts the fast-growing Andean nation in some esteemed company – and ahead of all of its regional peers. Continue reading »
Rating agency Fitch is ending the year with predictions that sub-Saharan Africa will be “a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy world in 2013″. With growth expectations of above 5 per cent, the region is set to benefit from rising investor interest, and upgrades may be in order.
Among the agency’s 15 rated sub-Saharan sovereigns, nine have stable outlooks and three positive. So who are the ones to watch? Continue reading »
Kiev: goodbye Azarov, hello eurobond?
It’s not common for news about a government’s resignation to be seen as positive, let alone an opportune moment for a country to tap the Eurobond market. But Ukraine is not your average country.
With a widening budget deficit and the economy sliding into recession, news that President Viktor Yanukovich had accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov’s government is welcome news for investment banks and investors. Continue reading »
The volume may be similar, but the names are changing. That’s likely to be the story of emerging market soveriegn debt in 2013, according to a report from Barclays, as lots of first time issuers look to tap the markets.
And rather than big benchmark issuers such as Turkey, South Africa and Russia driving the supply of hard-currency bonds, the biggest issuer next year may well be Indonesia. Continue reading »
[video] African debt on the up
African sovereign debt has quadrupled in the last decade, but compared to other regions still has a long way to go. As Eleanor Whitehead of This is Africa explains to Rob Minto of beyondbrics, investor appetite for African bonds is growing – so which countries are next?
Cheerful in Nigeria
Nigeria got an upgrade and new coverage of its sovereign debt this week as S&P upped it to BB- and Moody’s opened its rating at the equivalent level. This leaves Nigeria rated by all three major agencies at three notches from investment grade.
The move gave bond yields another reason to fall on Thursday. The question is – can they go any further? Continue reading »
Zimbabwe: a tentative T-bill step
After months of soul-searching by both borrower and lenders, Zimbabwe’s Treasury bill market re-opened last week.
It’s a small start – less than $10m – but it’s a significant moment. What does it mean for the country’s finances? Continue reading »
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