If there is one thing about which a large number of the great and good of the financial markets would have been wrong this year, it is where interest rates and the consequent yield on government debt would be at this juncture. Especially in the more developed markets. Taking US Treasuries as an example, this time last year, the yield was around the 3% mark and heading higher. Fast forward a year, and the level is not much more than half of its peak. In the eurozone, interest rates are not only negative but more negative than they were, with a...Read more
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With economies around the world failing to behave as predicted and geopolitical events further unnerving markets, central banks have have their work cut out to come up with solutions. But not everyone is convinced their strategies are justified.
Despite better-than-expected second-quarter figures, Turkey’s dream of becoming a tiger economy remain national fantasy.
The International Monetary Fund has come to the rescue of a growing number of African nations during the past few years, as a result of economic shocks that have hit many countries in the region hard. By Jason Mitchell.
Africa’s sovereign bond market is rapidly expanding, generating concerns that many countries in the region have not learned from past mistakes and are becoming too indebted again. By Jason Mitchell.
When Jair Bolsonaro took office as Brazil’s new president at the start of January, investors hoped it would draw a line under the economic pain and political dysfunction that has blighted the country over the past five years. But things have not turned out as hoped. By Ben Edwards.
Despite facing myriad economic challenges and having been obliged to accept an undesired IMF loan, hopes are that Pakistan can extract itself from its hapless situation.
Nepal, once poor and unruly, is enjoying a golden era, thanks to political stability, new infrastructure and a programme to making it a hydro-exporting power. It wants a credit rating in place by mid-2020, with an inaugural US dollar bond to follow suit.
The investment community is watching on nervously as Mexico’s heavily indebted state-owned oil company teeters on the edge of a junk rating precipice. By Ben Edwards.
Former TV comedian-turned president Volodymyr Zelensky’s commitment to economic reforms has put the smile back on the faces of investors in Ukraine ahead of a new round of IMF funding.
In the face of ultra-low yields in the Japanese government bond market, the country’s traditionally conservative institutional investor base has become more adventurous in its quest for yield. With the JGB curve on track to become entirely negatively yielding, that dynamic is here to stay – for now.
