The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook
forecast
GDP growth around 3.
Kleiman International
The Rohingya Crisis’ Regional Doubt Reverberations
2017 November 29 by admin
Posted in: Asia
While President Trump’s maiden Asia voyage focused on the headline themes of bilateral China relations, North Korea standoff, and trade pacts, the unrelenting Rohingya flight from Myanmar into Bangladesh, with over half the estimated 1 million population exiting so far, was also on the diplomatic and economic agenda as a long-festering regional issue. Washington is reconsidering easing of commercial and financial sanctions late in the Obama administration as refugee advocacy and human rights groups press the State and Treasury Departments for renewed punishment of documented military abuses under the nominal civilian leadership of Nobel laureate Aunt Sang Sue Kyiv. Natural resources under army-controlled companies remain a taboo area subject to strict reporting requirements, but US investors began to join European and Asian counterparts in exploring consumer and real estate ventures in particular. Private equity firms tentatively moved into position for promised stock exchange expansion and liberalization, after a trio of initial listings sparked new frontier market interest.
Despite another year of expected 6-7% GDP growth, these calculations are now indefinitely sidetracked with continued financial sector policy delay and inconsistency, compounded by international community condemnation of the reported Muslim expulsion campaign by the majority Buddhist population. The massive spillover into Bangladesh, following previous waves there and throughout South and East Asia, has raised investor questions about simmering ethnic and religious divides and long-term handling of the humanitarian turned economic development emergency. They come against the backdrop of MSCI stock market performance reverting to its pre-2008 peak, and preference turning to countries better equipped to sustain gains with inclusive business friendly outreach.
Bangladesh, up 6% on the MSCI frontier benchmark through October, won widespread acclaim for agreeing to host another 500,000 Rohingya crossing the border since August in addition to the 100,000 already in the Kutapalong refugee camp for decades. The move softened Sheikh Hasina’s reputation for intolerance toward the political opposition, as domestic supporters glorified her as the “mother of humanity. ” She approached donors in Geneva for pledges to build the world’s biggest refugee facility, and her Finance Minister requested World Bank concessional loans at the October annual meeting, with hundreds of millions of dollars to be mobilized in the first phase. However Dhaka has severely restricted non-government organization education, health and housing provision and the refugees’ freedom of movement, including to work or to enroll in local schools. Food prices have jumped in the vicinity, with the arriving Rohingya denied permission to apply their agricultural skills.
On the subcontinent India and Pakistan have also absorbed large Rohingya communities. Shares in the former have been at the bottom of the MSCI core universe since their return, with a 25% loss through October after Prime Minister Sharif was ousted on corruption charges while staying at the helm of his Muslim League-Nawaz party. The Rohingya integrated into the majority population, but remain economically marginalized and may be at increased risk with the chance of another balance of payments crisis forcing IMF rescue, according to observers. The Chinese Economic Corridor has injected billions of dollars in infrastructure stimulus to prevent recession, but added external debt to the existing heavy load on more expensive commercial terms. India on the other hand recently threatened to expel 50,000 Rohingya on national security grounds, citing a possible repeat of the nascent rebel movement claimed by Myanmar’s military to justify its scorched earth tactics. However the stance also fits with the Hindu fundamentalism promoted by Prime Minister Modi and his allies, which was largely ignored by investors as growth was chugging along at 7%, but may now be seen as stoking communal tensions and swallowing reform oxygen with the slowdown to 5% and portfolio outflows.
Indonesia and Malaysia have been equity market laggards, with advances just above 10%, as the Rohingya question comes into play more prominently in relation to identity politics and economic access. The race for Jakarta governor was plagued by Muslim-Christian friction and Investment Minister Tom Lembong decried “rising tribalism” as religious activists insist President Jokowi take a tough line with Myanmar. In Malaysia officials unveiled a generous pre-election budget with growth exceeding projections at 5. 5%, but their treatment of Rohingya refugees in detention centers is believed to be opposite and smother available job prospects key to transforming their plight to productive ends.
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Sovereign Debt Restructuring’s Loaded Cases
2017 November 22 by admin
Posted in: General Emerging Markets
The Institute for International Finance’s annual survey of its restructuring principles and investor relations trends, prepared under joint public-private sector senior executive direction, covered a half-dozen country cases and forty active communications programs as the joint tracking begun in the early 2000s reflected this year’s sharp capital flow predicted pick up from $750 billion to $1 trillion. The group noted that a brief July scare around advanced economy central bank liquidity moderation was a minor repeat of the 2013 Federal Reserve taper tantrum and that rising emerging market foreign currency denominated sovereign and quasi-sovereign obligations posed risks, even as systemic crisis was not flagged. The workouts in the report were relatively minor but could be revisited in the near future and also represent troubling precedents. Belize was back for a third round on its $525 million original “super bond” after natural disaster aggravated fiscal and current account deficits. A creditor committee was formed one week after the government sought relief, and 90 percent of holders agreed to lower coupons and an equal installment amortization schedule from 2030-34. Consent solicitation replaced a formal exchange offer due to collective action clause provisions, and negotiations took less than six months, with financial and legal advisers paid for under the previous agreement. Mozambique defaulted on a Eurobond and two loans and proposed to swap state tuna company-owned for sovereign claims in a “compact timeframe” without full consultation. Exit consents applied in the March 2016 operation which got 100 percent acceptance for extended maturities at a 10. 5 percent yield. After the deal officials revealed another $1 billion in outstanding credit, prompting IMF program cutoff and an external audit which found that half the proceeds could not be traced. Parliament and the local courts declared the official guarantees illegal, and international banks leading the syndicate are reportedly under US Justice Department investigation. Informal discussions have been held with creditors, who are pressing for a fresh Fund arrangement and debt sustainability analysis with recognition of existing cash flow help in a “cautionary tale,” according to the IIF.
Venezuela is in full-blown crisis with total foreign debt estimated at $150 billion, or 150 percent of GDP, and liquid reserves at $2 billion following a series of state oil company re-profiling and new finance transactions last year. Chinese debt for petroleum exports has already been restructured, and the central bank sold a $3 billion PDVSA bond at a one-third discount to a US asset manager in May in a controversial placement which catalyzed momentum for Treasury Department sanctions against future debt or equity purchase. President Maduro has delayed almost $4 billion in payments due the last quarter and ordered his Vice President, under previous bilateral curbs as an individual for alleged drug trafficking, to lead comprehensive restructuring talks with all commercial and official creditors with a wide disparity in geopolitical and instrument composition. The IMF may be called in to verify statistics, but Caracas with its dueling parliaments and record inflation and violence will remain at the opposite extreme of the IIF’s data and investor outreach winners. Almost half the countries tracked were in the top quartile with Indonesia, Mexico Turkey with the highest score followed by Brazil, Russia, South Africa and Poland in need mainly of restructuring information and network links.
Europe’s Strange State Enterprise Striations
2017 November 22 by admin
Posted in: Europe
An IMF working paper divides state-owned firms into the “good, bad and ugly” in a dozen European countries with financial, operating and governance indicators benchmarked against Sweden in an attempt to assess the legacy of “inconsistent privatization” often leaving heavy debt and poor productivity. Efficiency and profitability lag private competitors, particularly in Southeast Europe and the Baltics. Slovenia, Lithuania and Latvia bolstered oversight but Bulgaria is behind on centralizing ownership rather than putting ministries in charge, clarifying dividend policies and professionalizing boards. Over 6000 companies are tracked across eight industries, dominated by health care and utilities. They contribute 1-10 percent of GDP and employment, with differences in the two readings reflecting relative capital and labor intensity. Energy sector output is over half government-controlled in Hungary and Poland, while mining is a main category in Estonia and Sweden. Losses are concentrated in several lines, including electricity in Bulgaria, transport in Croatia, and banking in Latvia. In Sweden by comparison large profits come from gaming and real estate. Debt in a handful of countries stands at 5-7 percent of GDP, and Bulgaria, Romania and Poland are at the bottom in return on equity. Extrapolating from the World Economic Forum’s infrastructure scores, the Baltics provide superior company quality to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Firm-level difficulties pose macro fiscal and financial stability risks, with high contingent liabilities in Sweden and Slovenia’s two-thirds state-directed banks sparking a crisis five years ago that almost required Brussels rescue. Productivity tends to suffer unless foreign investors are also active, and the record is uneven on following core OECD corporate governance rules, with political interference worst in Bulgaria and Lithuania. EBRD transition measures likewise show gaps on hard budget limits, bankruptcy law enforcement and competition. Ownership guidelines are inconsistent and overlap with policy responsibility, and board member nomination and compensation procedures are opaque and not skills-based. The review urges comprehensive reform with the understanding that even healthy legal regimes fail on implementation.
Europe and Central Asia were again standouts in the World Bank’s latest Doing Business survey with 80 percent of economies taking strides in the dozen areas tracked, and Macedonia and Georgia in the top 20 of 190 nations, with both leading regulation revamp since publication launch fifteen years ago. Latvia and Lithuania are close behind with bankruptcy and tax shifts evaluated by tens of thousands of ground-level professionals as the raw study input. The European Union has commissioned its own sub-national work already profiling the Balkans, and Central Asia members Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan led the reform pack the past year. Kosovo also completed insolvency overhaul, and Belarus and Mongolia passed movable property laws to widen credit access. On minority shareholder rights, Kazakhstan mandated independent directors and an audit committee, and Georgia eased liability lawsuits. Loan reporting was strengthened in Slovenia, but business startup remains the signature catalyst in the region and globally with 2017 steps in the Czech Republic, Serbia and Tajikistan, although it was not highlighted in its maiden external bond prospectus which focused on dam construction for hydropower projects involving other key enterprise pillars on elusive electricity and permits.
Refugee Bonds’ Millions to Billions Chant
2017 November 17 by admin
Posted in: General Emerging Markets
At the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank, the global refugee crisis, which has spread from the Middle East to Asia with the headline escape of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar into Bangladesh after years of flight into the broader region, was in the spotlight. World Bank President Jim Young Kim emphasized the new development lender mantra of “turning billions into trillions” through innovations and risk management tools to better mobilize private capital, as the Institute for International estimated that foreign inflows into emerging debt and equity markets would again reach $500 billion with this year’s stellar index performance.
The poor country IDA window envisions $2 billion in the future for refugee host needs, as Bangladesh’s Finance Minister submitted an initial request for the Rohingya influx which alone may cost $1 billion, according to a local economist. The Bank may issue additional emergency bonds in its own name for on-lending alongside the Global Concessional Financing Facility (GCFF) – created by the Bank, EBRD and the Islamic Development Bank to allow discount borrowing by middle-income frontline states like Jordan and Lebanon – but conventional emerging and frontier market investors could more easily be directly tapped for larger sums through dedicated “refugee bonds” where the Bank instead should emphasize credit enhancement. Jordan’s government has shown interest in a pilot program which, after modest startup and preparation outlays, could raise hundreds of millions to billions in fresh long-term funding the first year.
Sovereign bonds are a logical starting point for refugee capital markets development, but public and private equity participation through investment funds is also feasible, particularly in view of the number of large listed stock exchange companies already providing goods and services to this population in camps and cities. Jordan is just one possibility in the area’s economies overwhelmed by refugee and displaced person waves, including Turkey, Lebanon, Tunisia and Iraq. It has issued external bonds both cleanly and with US government guarantees, and a $500 million one at 7% yield was oversubscribed recently within the guidelines of its IMF program aiming to prevent increase in the steep 90 percent of GDP debt ratio.
Preliminary discussions with traditional emerging market investors, as well as those focused on “impact” investing drawn to the socially-responsible component, suggest that the government could offer a lower yield for a refugee bond that ties the cost to detailed, independently verified reporting on proceeds allocation. The instrument would be designed to promote “best practice” in relief and to identify revenue streams, such as tax-producing job entry and business creation, that generate repayment cash flow. For collateral backup, buyers could also potentially have limited ownership rights in housing, road, power and sanitation facilities built to handle extended influxes into host countries, now averaging stays of more than a decade, according to UN data.
Bangladesh, which has accessed international markets once, would be a compelling candidate for development bank guarantee and risk support in an inaugural refugee bond. The Asian Development Bank could help arrange a local currency alternative as well, reflecting its mandate to strengthen domestic and intra-regional bond markets since the late 1990s financial crisis. Its work contributed to transforming India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand, also with large Rohingya migrant populations, into mainstream fixed-income emerging market investor destinations. Malaysia has become the global hub for Islamic sukuk activity, and a debut Bangladesh bond with sharia compliant features could be structured through there as the Malaysian government considers a separate one. The World Bank’s South Asia director said that its own form of bonds for the emergency is under review, as it still grapples with the right public-private sector mix in refugee operations. A creative emerging financial market-based solution has been presented to the institution and awaits official, commercial, or philanthropic sponsorship to realize millions to billions in available foreign investment beyond slogans.
Central Asia’s Prickly Business Reform Prize
2017 November 17 by admin
Posted in: Asia
The 15th edition of the World Bank’s Doing Business report, which surveys tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, lawyers and accountants for on-the-ground insight into commercial and regulatory conditions across a dozen categories, showed Uzbekistan as one of the top ten reformers the past year among the 190 countries tracked. The favorable publicity was soon overshadowed by the fallout over an immigrant’s truck attack in New York City, but extended a record of top sub-regional performance as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia were also cited for annual strides. Kazakhstan’s number 36 ranking was just behind Russia, while Tajikistan was at the bottom of the pack in 123rd place. In the neighboring Caucuses Georgia is a perennial rule change frontrunner, and in the top 10 of the overall ease index led by advanced and big emerging economies New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark and Korea.
Uzbekistan’s new President Shavkat Mirziyoyev unleashed a reform wave after decades under the authoritarian control of Islam Karimov, including freeing the currency, and courted foreign investors at September’s UN General Assembly meeting. He spurred advances in half of the World Bank’s focus areas, such as a “turnkey” electricity connection at the state utility and faster construction permit approval. His government acknowledges short-term adjustment costs and recently admitted the longtime 7% growth target may not be reached. The International Monetary Fund reinforced this wariness in its companion economic update issued during the October annual meeting, as it listed “deep-rooted” banking system, fiscal and monetary policy and private sector development weaknesses offsetting relative micro-level company progress.
In the 2016-17 reporting period, property rights strengthened in Kazakhstan with public disclosure of ownership around Almaty. In Mongolia a new movable property law went into effect allowing leases and titles as collateral to be entered into modern registries. Azerbaijan clarified corporate governance and transparency norms to include multiple board service, executive compensation, and formal independent audits. Kazakhstan’s stock market was a top 40% gainer on the MSCI frontier index through October, aided by expanded shareholder lawsuit scope for investor protection. Uzbekistan also introduced on-line tax payment, and Georgia further increased creditor insolvency power. Tajikistan, despite its ranking in the lower half of all countries, updated labor practice by raising minimum severance pay for dismissal and simplified business licensing. Azerbaijan’s banking crisis, where state giant IBA is in debt restructuring estimated to equal one-tenth of GDP as smaller competitors try to recapitalize, sparked a flurry of improvements in credit reporting and bankruptcy reorganization.
After 2. 5% growth in 2016 another 1% pickup is forecast for Central Asia and the Caucuses this year and the medium term trend will be 4-4. 5%, around half the early 2000s average, according to the IMF. Hydrocarbon exporters Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have stabilized with higher world prices and decent agriculture and construction backstops, but were urged to further diversify. Oil importers could see 4% growth in 2017 on Russia remittance rebound and boosted gold output in the Kyrgyz Republic. However financial sector damage lingers beyond Azerbaijan, as Kazakhstan merged the two largest banks and injected 4% of GDP this year, and Tajikistan’s government mounted a similar bailout. Consolidation has also taken place in Georgia in the face of steep bad loan ratios, while credit growth is flat or negative with the exception of Turkmenistan, where the rapid pace invites “future quality risks” in the Fund’s view. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan issued foreign debt to cover fiscal deficits, and despite drastic exchange rate adjustment, such as with Uzbekistan’s official and parallel rate unification where the som lost half its value against the dollar, the region’s current account gap will improve only “gradually” from last year’s 6. 5% of GDP. With the currency no longer the monetary policy anchor, central banks were encouraged to adopt inflation-targeting and more liquid and longer-term local Treasury bonds. With a nod toward the Doing Business attention, the Fund outlook praised “comprehensive initiatives” on competitiveness and the commercial environment, but lamented the lack of state enterprise privatization and anti-corruption and foreign investment promotion steps otherwise. It warned that “complacency” in headline reform movement may hamper fits with China’s Belt and Road and other global integration programs where rulebooks call for more thorough trade and financial reorientation.
Russia’s Revolutionary Sentiment Turn
2017 November 10 by admin
Posted in: Europe
On the centenary of the Bolshevik revolution overthrowing the czars Russian stocks stayed down less than 5% on the MSCI Index as global emerging market funds shifted to overweight positions surpassing other BRICS, according to industry trackers. The inroad is chiefly at India’s expense where price-earnings ratios are double in the twenty times range, and reflect oil prices again drifting toward $60/barrel and central bank easing to lift predicted 2 percent growth ahead of elections next year. Safe haven state bank inflows also contribute as the central bank shutters big private lenders on capital and accounting deficiencies. At the annual IMF-World bank meetings officials also emphasized fiscal consolidation under primary deficit elimination set for 2019 without tax hikes and relying on better centralized collection and management. A big IPO went ahead from controversial entrepreneur Deripaska caught up in the investigations intrigue over the 2016 US presidential election as a longtime client of campaign manager Manafort, who was the first indictment by special counsel Mueller for alleged money laundering and conspiracy. Oil giant Lukoil has been prominent in extending existing bilateral sanctions for a planned decade under the suspicion around the Trump administration, which prompted Congress to tie its hands while expanding the government individual and company blacklist. Sovereign debt investment could soon be banned as well after a Treasury Department report is completed, and could target local currency participation back at one-fifth the total for foreign buyers on renewed ruble embrace. Moscow has moved away from traditional energy ties with giants like Exxon Mobil to forge ventures with China, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, where it has secured access to rich fields in return for liquidity injections to avoid default. Long-term credit default swaps assign almost a 100 percent chance of non-payment, as new debt purchase there has been barred by Washington pending free elections in contrast with recent governor races widely seen as rigged. Russia’s version of “managed democracy” is likewise under the microscope, with President Putin yet to declare re-election intentions as another opposition candidate, former talk show host Sobchak, entered the contest alongside jailed activist Navalny. Her father was mayor of St. Petersburg and Putin’s original mentor, but the campaign platform may be thin on substance and particularly the economy and she risks cannibalizing the anti-incumbent vote. Putin has now been in power close to twenty years but has not marked the occasion with public notice since it may draw uncomfortable references to the anniversary of the czarist demise.
The international impasse over Eastern Ukraine has not budged, with thousands of displaced residents preparing again for the harsh winter. Officials proclaimed successful external bond market re-entry and compliance with IMF program conditions on the budget deficit, bank cleanup and gas subsidies as growth turned positive aided by metal export price rebound. Infrastructure in the undamaged heartland is a big push through a dedicated road fund and port rehabilitation, but corruption remains a sore spot, with President Poroshenko’s popular approval in the basement for identified conflicts and cronyism and former integrity honcho Saakashvili leading street protests against him. Agriculture reform and capital controls relaxation are stuck on the agenda pending revolutionary breakthroughs unlikely from discredited and exhausted administration forces, according to political observers.
Saudi Arabia’s Veering Vexed Vision
2017 November 10 by admin
Posted in: MENA
Saudi stocks struggled to stay positive on the MSCI frontier index, where they remain after graduation refusal both there and by rival FTSE, as officials zigzagged on Aramco offering plans and other Vision 2030 elements during the annual Bretton Woods institutions’ gathering and so-called “desert Davos” at a 2-day global investor event in Riyadh. Hundreds of portfolio managers converged on the latter in the hope of securing mandates and insight into the strategy of the $200 billion Public Investment Fund, which plans to double its assets over the medium term through leveraging state enterprise stakes and startup and acquisition deals at home and abroad. It is an anchor in the $100 billion Softbank technology vehicle, the world’s largest, and also revealed ambitions for a $500 billion next decade new commercial and residential zone along the Red Sea called Noem. At the appearances oil diversification was the mantra even with price rebound above $50/barrel and geopolitics was downplayed as a boycott continues against Qatar for allegedly supporting terrorism and Iran, and Yemen civil war intervention results in tens of thousands of deaths from air bombardment and disease and famine. The rejiggering of National Transformation Program deliverables and timetables prepared with assistance from international management consultants was presented as more realistic, despite simultaneous fiscal discipline slippage with the reinstatement of civil servant allowances. The Aramco IPO timetable was extended from next year into 2019, and a local listing now seems preferred over meeting the disclosure and liquidity standards in Asia, Europe and North America after exchanges there plumbed for the business. A private placement cannot be ruled out either to a strategic or financial buyer, with Chinese firms a natural fit under the infrastructure-led Belt and Road initiative. The head of the Capital Markets Authority touted interest in qualified foreign investor and new banking licenses, with respectively 100 applications in for limited stock exchange access and Citibank recently awarded full approval. International activity is only 2 % of the total, but another entry round for smaller institutions is foreseen as development of a second-tier equity market slowly evolves alongside the main Tadawul index. He tried to reassure audiences that the dollar peg will remain indefinitely, while acknowledging interruption in Gulf Cooperation Council banking and monetary union the past decade further stymied by the Qatar split.
Since the Saudi cutoff joined by Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt stocks there plunged double-digits on the MSCI index and the government has drawn on an estimated one-tenth of its $350 billion reserves including the sovereign wealth pool to sustain trade and banking. Cross-border commerce with Iran is up 50 percent in a perverse effect from criticizing previous relations, and Dubai as the regional offshore center has also suffered from suspended contracts and capital and credit flows. Benchmark bond yields stabilized at 3. 5 percent after an initial spike on the fallout, as normal reserve assets were roughly doubled to $40 billion using updated IMF methodology. Egypt has benefited from its geopolitical and economic reform choices under a Fund program by comparison, as the central bank hosted a well-attended reception at the Washington meetings and investment strategists added local Treasury bills to their recommendations, after long post-Arab spring consideration as an eyesore under the old currency construct.
The Czech Republic’s Missing Mate Mooring
2017 November 3 by admin
Posted in: Europe
Czech Republic stocks, after a 20 percent MSCI index advance through September, rocketed on the sweeping election win of former Finance Minister Babis, a wealthy business executive, who formed the new Ano (Yes) party in a clear break from years of traditional political group coalition reshuffling. His platform was pro-business and Europe but otherwise vague, as the campaign was shadowed by allegations of inordinate tax break claims and other questionable transactions. He resigned from the last government to protest his innocence, and if other parties are invited to join the administration representatives will likely be drawn from a fresh pool to leave behind the outgoing prime minister and peers as adversaries. Babis took a similar anti-immigration populist stand as in neighbors Hungary and Poland but has otherwise talked of running the country in more company-like fashion to regain the bellwether competitive position of the early post-communist transition. Local brokers argue another wave of state enterprise privatization and big IPOs could be forthcoming, and that unlike the rest of Central Europe where private pensions are under threat or been dismantled, these schemes could be strengthened with overdue social security reform. These ambitions may be misplaced but exchange rate and monetary policies recently generated excitement, as the longtime koruna-euro ceiling was removed and a first interest rate hike accompanied an above target inflation rise to 2. 5 percent. Hungary in contrast has continued to ease in unconventional fashion through loan facilities and long-term yield curve reduction, with inflation still under 2 percent. Despite leadership spats with Brussels, EU cohesion funds pour in and contribute to a 5 percent of GDP external surplus. Prime Minister Orban has ignored a European Court of Justice ruling that 2015 refugee quotas organized by Germany should be honored, and pointed to Chancellor Merkel’s setback in recent elections as vindication of his position. Inflation is also below-target in Poland with the central bank on hold, as court interference proposals which drew international condemnation were diluted and fiscal discipline honored despite increased social spending to keep Law and Justice party campaign promises. Consumption has maintained 4 percent GDP growth, aided by emigrant return from the UK post-Brexit which has kept downward wage pressure as compared with Romania, where large civil servant salary jumps have concerned the IMF under a monitoring program. The budget giveaway prompted the central bank to shrink the interest rate corridor in response as monetary policy tries to fight back.
Investors worry the Balkans pattern of public sector imbalance could be repeated as in Croatia struggling to preserve its credit rating with a 1 percent of GDP deficit, and in Serbia where a Fund arrangement in place will produce a small surplus with moves like airport divestiture and tax system revamp. Meanwhile in Greece fiscal consolidation has outperformed on 2 percent growth and bolstered the EU austerity camp view that a 3. 5 percent primary surplus can be met over the medium term. The IMF continues to cooperate but presumes future additional debt relief as the latest deal ends in less than a year. The remaining banks with 40 percent bad loans have ignored the debate and begun to return to global bond markets for recapitalization capitalizing on an historic buying frenzy.
Argentina’s Churlish Change Election
2017 November 3 by admin
Posted in: Latin America/Caribbean
Argentina financial assets shook off a brief scare about a parliamentary election opposition and Peronist party comeback against President Macri’s new Change movement with a rally after it won 40 percent of the vote and gained seats in both houses although still in minority position. The victory reflected popular acceptance of the government’s “gradualist” reform agenda despite opinion survey dips as well as rivals’ weakness, with no clear candidates emerging to claim the mantle of ex-President Christina Fernandez, who was narrowly defeated in a Buenos Aires Senate race as the target of corruption and abuse investigations during her time in office. Ruling party momentum should translate into promised labor, tax and capital market overhauls as details are proposed. Corporate income rates could come down 10 percent, and worker formalization could include amnesty while the social security system stays intact. Local institutional investor development, particularly mutual funds, is a priority with near-term elevation to core MSCI stock market status in mind. An infrastructure public-private partnership framework is also set to roll out an estimated $10 billion in annual projects through end-decade. The economy is out of recession and the fiscal deficit will improve this year, while inflation is stuck at 20 percent forcing the central bank to keep interest rates high as credit, especially mortgages begin to pick up after a prolonged freeze. The budget gap relies on external financing with another $2. 5 billion sought before year-end, and exchange rate adjustment has lured investors after the decade-long capital controls regime while widening the current account deficit. The administration has pushed to realize potential from non-agriculture exports with currency competitiveness, but the scope is limited pending productivity and technological changes for small-scale manufacturing.
Elections are in the spotlight throughout Latin America as a main risk amid commodity recovery and sovereign ratings stabilization. Brazil’s Finance Minister Mereilles is rumored as a presidential candidate in 2018, as opinion polls show former convicted President Lula in the lead amid a pack of ideological entrants who may be too extreme for average voter appeal. Social security overhaul could be enacted before the thick of the political cycle, with modest trims the most likely scenario. Interest rate cuts may have run their course with inflation at the bottom of the target band, despite output slack, as development bank subsidies are also pared with a market-based benchmark. President Temer’s approval number is only single digits and he barely escaped the impeachment track, but is still in prosecutor sights for allegedly pocketing bribes from disgraced meat purveyor JBS, which faced securities holder lawsuits in the US and other jurisdictions.
Mexico’s peso has again flagged under US threats to dissolve NAFTA, after several negotiating rounds ended in acrimony. Trade Representative Lightizer insisted on strict local content revisions and a periodic sunset clause under which the agreement would automatically expire every five years without explicit renewal. Mexican officials tried to portray the talks as normal posturing while pointing out that half of cross-border commerce would survive pact abolition. The economists presenting the Mexican side have tried to make the case that the bilateral trade deficit is due to multiple factors, and pointed to recent breakthroughs in state oil company Pemex’s private auctions as removing barriers, but Trump tweets call for more dramatic change.
Africa’s Miffed Market Maturity Measures
2017 October 27 by admin
Posted in: Africa
African official and private sector sponsors including Barclays, the OMFIF think tank and the African Development Bank joined to unveil a planned annual Financial Markets Index covering seventeen countries initially, with qualitative and quantitative assessments across half a dozen categories. They probe market depth, foreign exchange access, regulation and taxation, local investor capacity and economic strength for a total possible 100 score. South Africa far outstrips the pack with a 92, followed by Botswana, Mauritius, Kenya and Nigeria in the 50s and 60s, with nascent exchanges in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Seychelles in the rear 25-35 range. For subjective results over fifty bank, brokerage, accounting and multilateral agency executives were surveyed with the aim of establishing a “useful” new foreign investment tool that can be presented during the IMF-World Bank yearly gatherings. Domestic institution scope was a glaring poor performer, with a 22 average outside South Africa and Namibia with big pension and insurance sectors. Transparency in terms of rule adoption in contrast was high, although enforcement lags. Egypt and Kenya did well on liquidity as stock market capitalization was 60 percent of GDP among the group, but turnover outside those two was just 2. 5 percent and bond trading is scarcely above that figure. Capital controls are heavy and increased in recent years in Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia with commodity export price retrenchment and currency intervention siphoning international reserves. Portfolio inflows are only 5 % of GDP, with Kenya and Mauritius in the lead with a net $9 billion compared with $450 million for the rest. Fragmentation prevails despite regional integration efforts, notably through Cote D’Ivoire’s West African CFA Franc zone bourse, and the report urged further cross-border policy and transaction steps.
Depth looks at securities and hedging products, internationalization, and secondary dealing and only rand- denominated bonds are listed on Euroclear and market-makers formally exist in a dozen countries but are relatively inactive. Small and midsize company access is meager and large state enterprises tend to dominate and officials often shun capital market innovations that may create volatility. Wide exchange rate fluctuations and multiple quotations act as deterrents, and outside South Africa’s $1 trillion market hard currency volume is negligible. Namibia has adopted economic empowerment legislation mandating 25% black and disadvantaged population company ownership to inhibit foreign capital. Regulation is “improving but uneven” with limited tax treaty networks and frequently stiff capital gains and withholding levies. Morocco, Uganda and Mozambique have thin minority investor protection, while Nigeria crafted a good exchange information and broker oversight system after previous complaints. Less than half the list is working on Basel III banking standards, but most follow international financial reporting ones. Half the index members have no corporate ratings for credibility and visibility, and capital markets authorities often lack political and professional independence. Pension and insurance assets increased $150 billion on the continent the past decade and funds are typically too big for local markets while operating under allocation guidelines confining them there. Seychelles’ pools are offshore-based for tax reasons, and cross-border preferences when allowed are surfacing as for Kenyan funds in Mauritius. With little derivatives and securities borrowing activity, countries do not subscribe yet to the relevant master global agreements urged in a future index haul, according to the last distinct evaluation snapshot.
Iran’s Currency Run Unraveling Pose
2017 October 27 by admin
Posted in: Asia
Iran’s currency, which had gradually moved over the past year in official and parallel markets from 30,000 toward 35,000 to the dollar, immediately tumbled past 40,000 and the Tehran stock exchange index also shed 2% ahead of President Trump’s new sanctions on the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and declaration to the US Congress to decertify nuclear accord compliance. Equities had been up 10 percent in the first half of the fiscal year from March to September, and the influential Planning and Budget Organization chief, Mohammad Baqr Nobakht, a close economic adviser to re-elected President Hassan Rouhani, had ruled out devaluation before the financial market rout, which may have been triggered by other factors beyond Washington’s harder line that could target IRCG-controlled listed companies it accuses of “confiscating wealth. ”
The central recently cut the benchmark deposit rate to 15% as inflation hovers around 10%, and customers scrambled into foreign exchange, also buoyed by demand around the Kurdish independence referendum in northern Iraq. The move was also precipitated by continued delay in unification of the dual exchange rate system, despite repeated promises to the International Monetary Fund and correspondent Asian and European banks which now conduct business since the country rejoined the SWIFT payments network. Reinforced US secondary sanctions could scupper these ties, but frozen financial sector reform is an equal threat especially since it is a centerpiece of President Rouhani’s second term agenda.
The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook forecast GDP growth around 3. 5% this year and next, as oil production ramped up to almost 4 million barrels/day within OPEC agreed limits for a 4. 5% jump in the first quarter. Agriculture came in under that number, and industry including mining and construction showed the same performance, while services like hospitality and retailing surged 8%. Tourism boomed the past fiscal year with a 50% visitor rise to 6 million, and officials plan to triple the influx by 2025. Reported unemployment is 12. 5%, and the youth figure is double that amount according to national statistics. The current account balance is solid with non-oil foreign trade increasing 5%, and exports to Russia a whopping 35%, in the first half. Foreign debt is low at $9 billion, with one-third short-term, and Vice President Eshaq Jahangari put FDI inflows at $15 billion since the nuclear deal went into effect in 2016.
Central bank governor Valiollah Seif projects trillions of dollars more in investment over the coming decade, as $20 billion in credit lines were recently signed with big Chinese and Korean and mid-size Austrian and Danish banks. A study last year by global consultancy McKinsey estimated $1 trillion in additional output in the next twenty years, tapping into the 80 million young, educated and tech-savvy population often cited by the few foreign portfolio managers who have started dedicated funds. Iran advanced seven spots in the World Economic Forum’s 2017-18 Global Competitiveness Index, at 70 out of 140 countries, on incremental infrastructure and regulation improvements. Housing may finally be in recovery after a long recession with 9% sales growth in September in Tehran. The state-owned mortgage specialist Bank Maskan plans to finance an ambitious 1. 5 million homes in the coming years, and slashed the discounted borrowing rate to 7. 5%. , while other commercial banks have shunned exposure under 12-year repayment terms.
The IMF in an October visit praised moves to crack down on previously unregulated “shadow” lenders which evaded rate caps, following the summer decision by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force to allow further time for anti-money laundering rule adoption. A ratings agency established by the central bank and Economy Ministry is to publically reveal general balance sheet risk ratings for the sector, with $700 billion in assets, this month. Iran’s thirty-five banks currently have capital adequacy ratios between 6-10%, as they struggle with double-digit bad loan loads and prepare for eventual Basel III prudential standards. Leading executives from fully private competitors calculate that only half the current system will survive under a cleanup that may cost in the $100-billion range in the initial phase. Foreign investors bypass these listings even as their trading rose 25% in the year through August, according to the securities supervisor. The country’s leadership nightmare may not come only from President Trump’s “bad deal” interpretation, but currency and share slides reflecting monetary and financial system inaction.
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Private Debt’s Hangover Remedy Rumbling
2017 October 22 by admin
Posted in: General Emerging Markets
As IMF officials at their annual meeting continued to sound the alarm on private debt buildup as a looming systemic risk, big investment houses have projected calm, with JP Morgan statistics pointing to a slight annual drop to 115 percent or close to 80 percent of GDP excluding China. Government debt in turn increased marginally since 2016 to 50 percent of output, half the level of the US and Europe, with Gulf and frontier countries running up the tab. Egypt, Mongolia, Jamaica and Lebanon have burdens in the 100 percent-plus range, but the external portion for the overall universe has been steady the past decade at around 25 percent. Deleveraging started almost two years ago, including in China where shadow banking-spurred credit growth is down to single digits. Corporate debt spurted 25 percent to almost 85 percent of GDP since the 2008 financial crisis, and the private remainder is household particularly mortgages and credit cards in East Asia and this region has the highest commercial load at 150 percent-plus in China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. Since 2014 Mexico and Egypt totals rose 5 percent, and fell comparable amounts in Croatia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Domestic borrowing is almost 95 percent of the sum, and 80 percent is through traditional bank lending rather than bonds. As of Q3 credit expansion outside China was 6. 5 percent, versus almost triple that pace in 2011. African countries like Nigeria dropped 20 percent on an annual basis, but the cycle has improved in Brazil, Russia and Turkey so that the net effect is no longer negative, according to the JP Morgan research. The trend is reflected in the IIF’s latest survey of banking conditions released before the IMF gathering, with a 48 result approaching the neutral 50 mark. The better outcome is also attributed to developing economy growth pickup across the board highlighted in the Fund’s upgrade to 4. 5-5 percent this year.
The corporate benchmark CEMBI was introduced in 2007 and since avoided major selloffs, and local and foreign pension fund investors have jumped in with mandates to follow the 50 country $400 billion gauge. However index allocation misses half the universe in this segment as well as external and domestic sovereigns, and portfolio managers now argue for a blended or unconstrained approach through individual accounts. US public pensions have less than 5 percent of assets in EM debt, and September paper by fund giant Eaton Vance, which recently bought socially responsible specialist Calvert, argues for top-down multi-class exposure. After assessing economic and political risk, bottom-up company and instrument research and market trading and infrastructure capacity should be guides, and institutional investors may lack these dimensions with in house expertise. According to sentiment readings taken during the IMF heavy inflows already near $100 billion and fixed-income overweights should last through 2018, although equities will outperform. Currency and bond enthusiasm will shrug off industrial world central bank planned liquidity tightening, world geopolitical tensions now concentrated on the Korean peninsula, and likely credit rating downgrades which may continue for China, South Africa and other prime destinations caught in their own subprime borrowing predicaments.
Ghana’s Addled Issuance Anniversary Angles
2017 October 22 by admin
Posted in: Africa
Ghana marked a decade since it Sub-Saharan Africa setting sovereign bond debut as rating agencies have one-third of the continent on negative watch on still slippery commodity recovery, with $25 billion in near-term maturities due. Oil earnings were half the 2013 peak last year at $1. 5 billion, and cocoa exports continue to draw $2 billion in syndicated loans with arranger banks emphasizing relationships rather than crop resurgence. International lines have been in the sector forefront as domestic counterparts battle with 20 percent bad loan portfolios that forced the central bank to close two institutions in August and transfer them to state-run Ghana Commercial Bank, a heavyweight stock exchange listing, with the MSCI frontier index up 70 percent through the third quarter after a prolonged slump. Banks are also absorbing the impact of local debt swaps to reduce costs and extend tenors, as $2. 5 billion in new issuance will tackle energy arrears and inject liquidity. Total global obligations are $30 billion and servicing drains one-third of government revenue, but the currency is no longer in free fall after an IMF program and inflation is near single-digits at 12 percent. Fiscal discipline is the centerpiece of the Fund accord recently stretched to 2019, with this year’s deficit estimated at 6 percent of GDP as “ghost workers” were dropped from the official payroll and a new digital identification system is to incorporate informal tax evaders. President Akufo-Addo, whose father held the post after independence, campaigned on a pro-business platform and named well-known former investment bankers to the Finance Ministry. However the World Bank Doing Business ranking is 110, and the President has come under criticism for minister sprawl as he rewarded over 100 appointees associated with his party and decades of political life. Relations with China are also controversial, as his team cracked down on small-scale gold miners after complaints from mainland operators and set ambitions as a sub-regional rail hub with Chinese borrowing and technology.
The move is widely viewed as a West Africa challenge to giant Nigeria, where President Buhari has been on medical leave abroad and secessionist stirrings in Biafra have reignited with the anemic 2 percent growth rate and Boko Haram pillaging and terror. Since April the foreign exchange crunch has eased with more regular auctions for essential imports, and foreign investors have crept back into Treasury instruments with nominal 15 percent yields despite eviction from the main JP Morgan index. The MSCI stock gauge in turn has rebounded 25 percent through September on stronger oil prices boosting reserves, and likelihood that the President may step aside before the end of his term in 2019 and in a history repeat from the last administration transfer power to his more dynamic and economics-savvy vice president. In East Africa Kenya has also gained 25 percent on the frontier index as the presidential contest is replayed in mid-October after a constitutional court found evidence of vote hacking and count irregularities in the original exercise. The ruling was hailed as a democracy triumph in good governance circles, but spooked the business community with another round of uncertainty and potential large-scale violence between rival tribal candidate camps. Blue-chip Safaricom announced expansion plans in Ethiopia as a strategy response despite the glaringly more questionable free-election path.
Exotic Sovereigns’ Pedestrian Sustainability Sense
2017 October 15 by admin
Posted in: General Emerging Markets
The dozen countries in JP Morgan’s frontier NEXGEM index continue to outstrip the main external bond gauges as spreads over US Treasuries are at a decade thin 100 basis points, as public debt jumped an average almost 15 percent over the period to 70 percent, resurrecting sustainability fears after large official relief programs. Economic growth and exchange rate stress testing suggests medium term deleveraging could stabilize ratios, and domestic borrowing would increase its relative portion. However levels in Ghana, Jamaica, Mongolia and Ukraine would rise 5-15 percent and translate into higher spreads under normal differentiation, which may not apply currently with sloshing global liquidity and investor positions remaining underweight. Since last year fundamentals have “decoupled,” but the relationship with most specific credits has held up since index introduction, according to the sponsor. In Central America and the Caribbean Moody’s downgraded Costa Rica in February one notch to lower speculative status, a further slip from the previous investment-grade rating. Another blow looms on the horizon with promised fiscal consolidation failing to balance spending and revenue with debt/output already at 65 percent. The government is hamstrung entering next year’s election with control of only one-fifth of legislative seats. Earmarks take up 90 percent of appropriations, and despite announcement of a “budget emergency” and likely wider foreign investment scope for local debt decisive action will await the new administration. The Dominican Republic in contrast was upgraded in September after a well-received $500 million international issue, with debt-to-GDP twenty points less and 5 percent growth on track, with good remittances and tourism before the spate of area hurricanes. Ecuador’s public debt doubled the past five years with oil price collapse and heavy state infrastructure and social outlays. Its main overseas creditor was China until market return in 2014, and President Moreno has yet to signal a break from the loose purse strings of his predecessor and socialist policy champion Correa. The Vice President has been implicated in another Odebrecht bribery scandal around previous construction projects, and dollarization is set to continue with business and financial community support despite populist backlash. Major external bond maturities are not due until end-decade, and relations have resumed with the IMF for possible emergencies beyond a recent earthquake when it was tapped for aid.
El Salvador’s debt stands at 65 percent of GDP and the two main political parties have been at loggerheads over pension reform after missed payments. The opposition recently managed a compromise to hike the contribution rate to 15 percent and extend retirement age over time. The net present value of liabilities is still estimated at 90 percent of national income only expanding at a 2 percent annual pace. Private pension funds must buy the government notes to cover obligations, potentially subjecting them to portfolio and default risks. Jamaica with its world-beating 120% of GDP load has been under IMF supervision for five years, and completed a series of local and foreign debt swaps. A three-year $1. 5 billion standby was inked in 2016, and the local dollar continues to depreciate as more flexible currency and inflation-targeting regimes are adopted. A 5 percent-plus budget primary surplus has been regularly achieved but the wage bill has been pared back slowly amid glacial 1% growth.
Household Debt’s Untidy Room Ramifications
2017 October 15 by admin
Posted in: Global Banking
The IMF’s fall Global Financial Stability Report cited the development contribution of rising emerging economy household debt the past decade to a median 20 percent of GDP, one-third the industrial world level, but cautioned about longer term recession and crisis scenarios as deleveraging occurs with overhangs. Developing countries may be “less prepared” to handle the squeeze with institutional limits such as missing personal bankruptcy codes. For the highest debt quartile the average was one-third of GDP in 2016, in part due to cross-border liquidity expansion from loose monetary policy. Credit access can lift domestic demand and consumer wealth, but future adjustment may be sharper with global interest rates around zero for so long. Housing and other investment returns may not meet expectations and borrowing often goes for non-productive purposes. From the supply side bank balance sheets can suffer, and risks be exacerbated with foreign currency-denominated loans. Ratios are under 10 percent of GDP in Argentina, Egypt, the Philippines and Ukraine; and over 50 percent in Malaysia, South Africa and Thailand. One-third the total is mortgages and most are recourse-based, allowing other family collateral seizure upon default. In advanced economies Australia and Canada stand out for their breakneck pace beyond historical norms, and leading emerging markets Chile, China and Poland have also built up fast. Since 2008 the yearly clip was 6. 5 percent, well over output growth. Low income households are typically excluded in early industry stages but often turn to micro-finance sources that may not be tracked or regulated. Econometric models indicate that a 5 percent household debt increase over 3 years will halve future growth over the same period. The drag is mainly due to the mortgage element that accompanies house value correction, especially in emerging markets with narrower asset class diversification. An open capital account and fixed exchange rate heighten risks, including banking crisis probability that spikes at 65 percent of GDP, according to empirical work. Financial sector depth and quality bank oversight can cushion the medium-term negative correlation, and stricter capital requirements and dividend suspension may be effective counters. Shared credit registries and education to ward off predatory practices are important steps, the Fund asserts. Macro-prudential measures, such as on loan-to-value and debt-service-to-income, and consumer protection rules are valuable. Mortgage contracts can also be designed for more risk-sharing and resets in the event of extreme circumstances, the chapter suggests.
South Africa’s multinational banking groups have been targeted by ruling party and anti-poverty activists for loan forgiveness, amid accusations of deceptive and punitive rates, as debt burdens have wracked private consumption. A dedicated retail provider with close ties to them was forced to shut down with an extreme portfolio and capital gap, as the central bank now comes under broad pressure to focus less on financial stability than economic aid. Lawmakers reportedly are considering charter changes which would mandate stronger defense of average savers. International financial services firms have likewise come under harsh view with questionable allegiance to the business elite lodged in families with fortunes often predating independence and the end of apartheid. A newcomer clan, the Guptas of Indian background, allegedly worked with foreign auditors and management consultants to misrepresent its company accounts and wangle insider deals with the Zuma administration leaving a household odor.
Stocks’ Crisis Retrospective Run-Ups
2017 October 9 by admin
Posted in: General Emerging Markets
Thirty years after the 1987 New York Stock exchange 25 percent crash and a decade on from the 2008 financial crisis, MSCI core and frontier indices turned in respective 25 percent and 20 percent gains through Q3 for the best performance since 2010. Only Russia and Gulf country indices under trade and financial boycotts were down, alongside refugee emergency-hit Jordan and Lebanon, recent main gauge returnee Pakistan and tiny Botswana. The BRIC component overall was superior with a 30 percent advance, while Poland (+45 percent) led the big roster and Argentina and Ghana on the other one were ahead 60-70 percent. Zimbabwe recorded a stratospheric 250 percent jump through September with the stock exchange the only outlet to preserve savings, with draconian bank deposit withdrawal limits and new borrowing from the African Export-Import Bank to inject emergency dollars. China “A” shares after MSCI’s marginal index addition have surged to almost narrow the gap with the broader mainland 40 percent increase ahead of the Party Congress due to reappoint President Xi and his designated team, which could include well-known economic reformers and technocrats. On the eve monetary policy was loosened through a reserve requirement nudge for dedicated small business credit, as authorities seek otherwise to cap real-estate related personal lending.
Elsewhere in Asia Korea (+30 percent) brushed off border bellicosity, amid harsh rhetoric from Pyongyang against Seoul and the US and a series of test nuclear missile launches. Tech firms were in a sweet spot in the earnings and global manufacturing cycle, helping to overcome Chinese restrictions on consumer goods and Washington’s threat to renegotiate its bilateral trade pact. India (+22. 5 percent) faded on demonetization and national sales tax hangovers which have crushed average entrepreneurs and assembly operations, while Indonesia was another 10 percent behind as religion and politics mixed more dangerously with loud calls for more action to protect the Muslim minority Rohingya fleeing Myanmar for makeshift camps in Bangladesh, where the market rose almost 10 percent.
In Latin America Brazil (+25 percent) roared back during the quarter after lagging, as investors were spared a second impeachment even though President Temer remains under criminal investigation for alleged bribery and his party and allies are unlikely to pass overdue state pension cutbacks to restrain the 10 percent of GDP fiscal deficit. Mexico had the same showing as Pemex private sector exploration auctions proved popular and NAFTA reworking talks appeared to dismiss total breakup with Canada’s views closely aligned. Chile (+30 percent) was at the crest before the first round of presidential elections likely to return free market business magnate Pinera to the post. In Europe behind Poland, Hungary and Turkey each climbed over 25 percent on domestic demand juiced by state lending programs as relations further soured with the EU. Prime Minister Orban has defied Brussels on immigration quotas and President Erdogan accuses it of reneging on visa-free travel promised in exchange for additional Syrian refugee acceptance on transfer from Greece. There after Europe’s biggest run last year improvement is just over 10 percent as banks await another cycle of asset reviews which may reflect crisis respite short of repair to again rouse international community urgency.
Refugee Bonds’ Bangladesh Rohingya Crisis Bound
2017 October 9 by admin
Posted in: Asia
With almost half of Myanmar’s one million Muslim Rohingya population already pouring into next-door Bangladesh by land and sea to flee military and Buddhist civilian attacks, host government prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her ruling Awami League party have appealed to the international community for help in defraying the annual costs of the mass influx, estimated by a local economist at $800 million-$1 billion. The Rohingya have long fled their homes in Rakhine state, where they are denied citizenship, for South Asia including India and Pakistan as well as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and the refugees have both integrated into urban and rural cities and been isolated in separate camps and centers. Domestic budgets have largely absorbed the costs, and wealthier East Asia’s fiscal positions have left them in better shape to receive “boat people” waves not experienced since Indochina’s post war aftermath four decades ago, when global relief and resettlement agencies took joint publically-funded action. In the current crisis regional officials have no such mechanism for quick collective response but they could call on financial markets which have since developed, and conventional and Islamic-style sukuk bonds in particular promoted under the Asian Development Bank’s aegis, to promptly raise the billions of dollars needed in Bangladesh and elsewhere as specialized refugee instruments.
Bangladesh’s capital markets are “underdeveloped,” according to the IMF’s June Article IV report, and its external sovereign bond and stock market skidded with the displaced person arrival, from a 5% MSCI frontier index gain through August. No facilities or supplies were in place to accommodate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya amid the already poor physical and social infrastructure even though the country has graduated to lower middle-income status with per capita income at over $1500 now surpassing Pakistan’s, as touted in an Economist magazine article. Despite recent monsoon rains which again claimed hundreds of lives and vast crop land, GDP growth is projected again this fiscal year at 7% as textile exports and Gulf remittances regain double digit increases. In July and August they each were up 15% to almost $7 billion and $13 billion respectively, although garment prices dropped overall and the remittance number was skewed by the Eid holiday celebration. Private investment remains weak at under 25% of GDP, and a bill has been submitted to parliament to create a “one stop shop” to lift Bangladesh from the bottom of World Bank Doing Business ranking.
Inflation approaches the economic growth pace with higher food prices, but the central bank has kept the benchmark interest rate on hold. The budget deficit forecast is 5%, but a new value added tax has been introduced and public debt is stable at 40% of GDP. The current account is roughly in balance and international reserves over $30 billion cover nine months of imports, but a proposed sovereign wealth fund would initially take $2 billion from the pool. The exchange rate has softened slightly in nominal terms to above 80/dollar with selective official intervention, and the IMF urged more flexibility as a priority Article IV recommendation.
Banking sector problems, with a 25% bad loan ratio at state-owned units with one-quarter of system assets, are a major chokehold on broader financial market development. Capital adequacy is low at 6%, and it is still tied up in stock market investment after a crash five years ago prompted regulators to order reduced exposure. Government influence harms bank performance, and the Capital Market Master Plan adopted in the wake of the 2011 crash has a large unfinished agenda, including on mutual and pension fund and corporate bond launch, the IMF survey admonished.
Bangladesh may be limited in designing and supporting refugee bond issuance on its own, but could turn to the Asian Development Bank for credit enhancement and technical assistance and also team with neighbors like Malaysia in particular. It hosts a sizable Rohingya contingent and is the biggest sukuk center, accounting for over half the $60 billion total worldwide through the first half, and Prime Minister Najib Rezak raised the issue as a financial and security challenge during his White House visit last week. The Middle East with its Syrian displaced population has shown interest in such capital market innovation, but Asia with its decades of experience with bond promotion and greater depth could commission immediate pilot projects corresponding to Rohingya crisis urgency.
Saudi Arabia’s Dulled Driving Ambitions
2017 October 2 by admin
Posted in: MENA
Saudis shares stayed mildly positive on the MSCI index, as another big sovereign bond issue was prepared to avoid dipping into reserves and Vision 2030 economic overhaul targets were pared back amid reports of political purges within the ruling royal family. A modernizing wing could claim traction as women finally won the right to drive autos after years of protest, although it will not take effect until next year as religious conservatives vow to scuttle the decision. Aramco is still plodding ahead on its IPO as oil reserves are audited and balance sheet information may then dribble out once international listing locations are finalized. Only a 5% stake will be offered, but the megadeal has spawned a raft of other Gulf state energy company taps as over 30 IPOs worth $1. 5 billion were completed through September, more than in 2015 and 2016 together. By contrast Moody’s estimates another $30 billion in external bond sales after last year’s debuts. Even with petroleum prices at $50/barrel to moderate the fiscal deficit, it will come in around $50 billion on 1-2% GDP growth, as the National Transformation Program Prince Mohammed bin Salman introduced in 2016 with global management consultant advice was forced to “adjust and adapt” after state employee allowances were reinstated. Domestic energy subsidies were to be cut further in July, but officials have turned wary with unemployment at 12. 5 percent and opted instead to concentrate on promoting private sector-led industrial projects. Privatization deadlines have also slipped to the end of the plan period although a dedicated agency was created, and foreign ownership was liberalized for the education and health sectors while curbs remain on stock exchange access. MSCI dashed core roster graduation hopes in its last review, when it urged authorities to lift quotas and also modernize law and regulation for investor protection.
On that front with specific application to Islamic finance, the showdown between UAE-based Dana Gas and its bondholders on the fate of a $700 million sukuk is under close scrutiny. The company missed payments in the past on contract arrears in Iraq’s Kurdish province, which recently voted for independence in a referendum, and seeks to unilaterally restructure the instrument on the basis of retroactive noncompliance with Shariah code. Attorneys and religious scholars have waded into the fight waged at London’s Royal Court, with global houses like BlackRock maintaining big positions. The saga has cast a market pall with an issuance halt and higher yields, and after the London battle a UAE tribunal will pass judgment in December. The imbroglio has a diplomatic equivalent with the Gulf Cooperation Council member boycott against Qatar for alleged Iran and terrorist sympathies. Both sides have waged aggressive international media campaigns, and Moody’s calculates a 25 percent of GDP cost since embargo launch in June, with $30 billion in capital outflows including 10 percent banking system deposit withdrawal. Trade dropped 40 percent, with two-thirds of construction materials routed through Saudi Arabia and the UAE for offshore gas and football World Cup projects. US and Kuwait mediation attempts failed, and the sovereign rating outlook turned negative as the agency report cited an indefinite pause in regional infrastructure and capital market development drivers.
Ukraine’s Backward Leaning Liability Lull
2017 October 2 by admin
Posted in: Europe
After a Moody’s ratings upgrade from the low junk category, Ukraine bonds rallied on a post-default market return as $3 billion in issuance split between rollover and new money was doubly oversubscribed at a 7. 5 percent yield around the current secondary level. Buyers seemed to slough off concerns about the war with Russia, which won initial judgment in London for payments outstanding under the previous regime, and the 2015 20 percent haircut as the transaction followed a string of other far frontier sovereign bond taps including Iraq and Tajikistan. President Poroshenko called it “unbelievably positive” and the Finance Minister “transformational” despite lapses in the $17. 5 billion IMF program now with lukewarm support from the Trump administration and subject to “backward risk” in the words of the Fund’s number two official. GDP growth is now positive but a long way from overtaking the near 20 percent output collapses from 2014-15, and energy, pension and anti-corruption reforms have stalled after early momentum. The courts have interfered with actions taken by the new integrity bureau, whose head has been publically threatened by the media and lawmakers under investigation. The President himself, with his popularity at a single-digit low, has fended off attempts by the panel to pursue allegations against his intact business empire. Heading into winter natural gas tariff raises are overdue for state company cost recovery, which will sustain 15 percent range inflation. A full accounting of the hole in the public pension system has yet to be made, and bank cleanup is still proceeding after the takeover of Privatbank, where auditors Price Waterhouse were found to miss a $6 billion balance sheet gap.
In Russia, the only MSCI core stock market in the red through August, the central bank uncovered a bigger defect at “systemically import” Okritie Bank, the leading private lender. The new local rating agency set up by the government before had downgraded it, spurring a deposit run. Supervisors accused it of “sugarcoating” the books by inflating the value of Eurobonds acquired as Western sanctions for the Crimea invasion restricted external investment. The bank’s head was a well-known trader and bought a portfolio of smaller institutions with cheap post-2008 crisis state funding. With nationalization through a 75 percent stake management was dismissed and another shaky private competitor, B&N Bank was also taken over soon after. With the moves Sberbank, with over $400 billion in assets and a 25 percent earnings jump the last quarter, solidified its dominance as analysts predict the official share of the sector could reach 80 percent. Their support could be essential abroad as well as Rosneft maneuvers to provide Venezuela a credit lifeline in exchange for additional oil field access and ownership. It already retains the right to seize 49 percent of US outlet Citgo in the event of Caracas’ joint venture lapses, while Treasury Department limits may hinder eventual overall workouts with a future debt investment ban. Meanwhile, VTB the second leading government provider, is under fire in Washington for its reported links with the Trump campaign including a post-election meeting with his son-in-law whose New York properties were in need of refinancing under backward cash flow.
Global Refugees’ Brimming Business Case
2017 September 25 by admin
Posted in: General Emerging Markets
A new Center for Global Development study commissioned by the Tent Foundation, started by the chief executive of yogurt maker Chobani to organize US company efforts to tackle the refugee crisis in the Middle East and elsewhere, found that global business concentrated on the three areas of hiring and supply chains, impact investing and goods and services provision alongside broader policy shaping efforts. Social and reputation benefit, brand loyalty, and bottom-line profitability are the main motives, although agreed standards are lacking for accountability and results. The world’s close to 25 million refugees are displaced 10 years on average and over half are in cities, and “sustainable engagement” beyond periodic product and expertise donations increasingly applies, as with furniture manufacturer IKEA’s transition from energy and housing help to artisan employment in Jordan. The report notes that work, travel, education and childcare restrictions continue to block progress, despite evidence that migrant inflows can spur occupational and wage improvements for host populations. In offering positions Starbucks is a leader with a commitment to 10,000 retail slots, although in many countries work permits are unavailable and transport costs prohibitive. In Jordan only a quarter of the 200,000 promised labor authorizations under a concessional World Bank loan and EU trade preference deal have come through. Specialized initiatives like WEConnect and Building Markets aim to link women, entrepreneurs and small business to multinational company supply networks, and a quick review of 20 low and middle-income economies with the most refugees cites consumer products, agriculture, retail and information technology as promising sectors. Development agencies facilitate and sponsor new arrangements, such as with US grocer Safeway in Jordan and the UN’s craft enterprises in West Africa. Hydrocarbons could also be an entry point, and reconstruction in Iraq and Syria could take off eventually as dedicated matchmaking hubs promote partnerships, as the guide recommends.
Impact assets that seek environment and social alongside financial returns are estimated at $115 billion, and diaspora communities, such as Somalis in Kenya, also mobilize capital for frontline state high-risk allocation. They can take stakes in startup operations like the 10000 Syrian-owned ones in Turkey which average ten employees and contribute $330 million to the economy, according to a recent census. However global investment houses tend to shy away with the small scale and difficult to measure metrics, although project specific humanitarian or development bonds, with a donor or government paying upon achieved outcomes, may be a refugee channel. They are under preparation in the Middle East, and group loans to Syrian borrowers are offered through on-line site Kiva. As “base of the pyramid” consumers, the financial and telecoms sectors are ripe for innovation, and Mastercard has created digital vouchers and prepaid debit cards in cooperation with relief agencies, and European phone company Orange has built international dialing and banking infrastructure in Uganda. The paper concludes that these early models for refugee business may be inspiring but still lack a “rigorous evidence base. ” It advises establishment of ethical standards, evaluation tools, country dialogues and research centers to solidify commercial awareness and lay the foundation for routine participation that lasts apart from the Tent label.
The BIS’ Deliberate Debt Composition Unraveling
2017 September 25 by admin
Posted in: Global Banking
The Bank for International Settlements, in its latest quarterly survey of cross-border banking and bond flows, unveiled a deeper statistical set covering euro and yen-denominated activity and a recent profile of emerging market government patterns in two dozen countries. The amount doubled the past decade to almost $12 trillion, with China and India accounting for three-quarters. Composition “changed significantly” with 80 percent through local and international bonds compared with 60 percent fifteen years ago, and concentrated in the former at fixed rates and longer maturities. The foreign currency share halved over the period to 15 percent, and the dollar’s portion was 75 percent. International issues comprised one-third of outstanding official securities in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Indonesia and Poland, and Mexico is the top issuer overall with almost $70 billion placed over several decades. With few exceptions like Argentina, where over half of Treasuries are dollar-quoted, this structure has progressively faded as Turkey for example redeemed the remaining stock five years ago. Maturity has “risen sharply” and is just below the advanced economy 8-year average, with South Africa’s the longest at 16 years, outpacing the US, Australia, Germany and Canada. The fixed-return slice in turn jumped to 75 percent from 60 percent in 2000, in contrast with the industrial world’s 90-95 percent standard.
