Debt Management
How Africa’s bond markets can continue to progress
The impressive growth of debt markets in sub-Saharan Africa is a credit to the region’s authorities. But more can be done, writes Paul-Harry Aithnard, the group head of research at Ecobank
Germans in favour of kicking Greece out: poll
Survey in leading newspaper shows 53% of Germans think Greece should be kicked out of the eurozone if its debt troubles cannot be resolved, 67% want no part in a bail-out
Triple A rating “ours to lose”: King
Bank of England’s Mervyn King says downgrade unlikely given Britain’s strong track record and maturity of government bonds
Greece should go to IMF, not EU for aid: Issing
Former ECB chief economist advocates tough love from Washington, rejects Brussels bailout; position conflicts with senior EU bureaucrat
IMF warns against Japanese complacency
International Monetary Fund report says Japan will face a harder task in convincing markets it can manage high debt levels in future
S&P places Japan on negative watch
Rating agency argues fiscal leverage has diminished; decision comes after central bank opts not to extend quantitative easing
Kenya moves to automated treasury trading – Ndung’u
Kenyan governor Njuguna Ndung’u says automated trading system is an important development for treasury bonds
Corporate debt supports macro liquidity
Bank of Canada looks at corporations’ debt-issuance strategies
Argentina’s Redrado clings to position
Buenos Aires wants former governor Mario Blejer to take over following governor’s questioning of plan to raid reserves
Lawmakers voice fears for gilt demand
Treasury Committee says end to quantitative easing could lead to gilts sales falling short and funding costs rising
ECB’s Stark: EU won’t bail out Greece
Markets see rhetoric as an attempt to pressurise Athens into making fiscal adjustments
Iceland’s president vetoes $5.5 billion repayment
Decision underlines uncertainty caused by cross-border banking collapse; sparks rating-agency downgrade
Massive debts will stunt growth: Reinhart and Rogoff
Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff say on current debt trends, growth rates are set to fall substantially in four years’ time
World’s biggest bond fund cuts back on gilts and treasuries
Pimco says it will reduce its holdings of US and UK government debt on concerns over rising debt and the withdrawal of asset purchase programmes
Eurozone may need to rethink strategy on Greece
Brussels and the European Central Bank have underestimated the potential for contagion from Athens’s fiscal woes, argues Marco Annunziata, the chief economist at UniCredit
Mexico shrugs off S&P downgrade
Peso down marginally and Mexican stocks up despite second downgrade in less than a fortnight
Argentina to plunder central bank to pay off debt
Argentine government announces plans to create a fund to repay creditors which would use central bank’s reserves
Abu Dhabi bails out Dubai
Richest emirate agrees to provide $10 billion to Dubai World; central bank to support local banks
Using inflation to erode the US public debt
Paper examines relationship between size of debt and the temptation to inflate
Greece downgraded; remains on negative watch
One of the big-three ratings agencies downgrades Greece and keeps outlook on negative
Turkey gets sovereign debt, currency upgrades
Fitch Ratings raises Turkey’s long-term sovereign debt and currency ratings to BB+, taking them just outside investment grade
Debt managers responded to crisis with flexibility
National Bank of Denmark’s Jens Thomsen says debt management offices better accommodate investors’ needs as a result to the crisis
UAE backs banks as Dubai fears spark local sell-off
Commentators praise pre-emptive move on back of uncertainty in global markets following fears of Dubai World default
Instability hampers finance: IMF
International Monetary Fund looks at market access for the world’s poorest countries