CEE Bonds

The European Union is to impose sanctions on leading Belarusian officials after condemning the country’s presidential election as rigged. But bond investors are not in panic mode.

Political unrest in Belarus has thrown up difficult questions for emerging market investors, as ESG concerns rise and those who would buy still not seeing an attractive opportunity to do so.

A tumultuous week in Turkish currency markets ended with the lira hitting new lows against the dollar and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey finally taking action to try and calm volatility. Amid such swings, a sovereign bond issue looks unlikely.

Akbank, one of Turkey’s largest financial institutions, has raised a green bond, the first of its kind from the country since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Turkey continued to teeter on the brink of a currency crisis this week, as the lira went on another rollercoaster ride and touched a record low.

The Bank of England has said it may be necessary to make ‘temporary changes’ to capital buffers in the UK, owing to concerns that the existing framework could discourage banks from lending during the coronavirus pandemic.

Less than a year ago, international investor optimism about Ukraine was high but the journey to western style reform since then has shown just how hard a road it can be to travel.

CEEMEA bond bankers are pinning their hopes on the EU's €750bn recovery fund to spark green issuance once again. The market has been moribund since Covid-19 drew issuers' attentions elsewhere, with a debut deal from Georgia Global Utilities (GGU) — a portfolio company of London-listed Georgia Capital — one of very few recent highlights.

International investors hoping for reform in Ukraine were again disappointed on Friday when the deputy governor of its central bank, the National Bank of Ukraine, resigned from his post.

Falls in the Turkish lira have reignited concerns about a currency crisis this week, with the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s (CBRT) unorthodox exchange rate policy raising questions from investors about the robustness of the country’s respected banking sector. Mariam Meskin and Ross Lancaster report.

Despite the success of many emerging market sovereigns in issuing bonds in international markets this year, Turkey, typically a leading issuer, has been notable by its absence. And with its foreign exchange reserves running lower, the risks of it not being able to come to market at all could be mounting.

Ukraine returned to the international bond market on Thursday to issue the Reg S/144A 12 year bond that it pulled just weeks ago when its central bank governor resigned right after it was priced.