Coronavirus

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) looks likely to provide Peru with a flexible credit line of around $11bn as the South American country works to preserve it liquidity position.

Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB), the electricity and gas distributor majority-owned by the District of Bogotá, Colombia, is looking to hit bond markets to raise around $400m as government-linked issuers dominate the Latin America primary markets.

Colombian airline Avianca filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Sunday, the same day that $66m of senior unsecured bonds matured and just five months after wrapping a distressed debt exchange that some thought had brought the airline back from the brink.

Latin American development bank Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) tapped US dollar markets for the first time this year on Thursday, raising $800m of three year money that it will use to partially fund a $2.5bn emergency credit line designed to support shareholder countries in dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved a $500m loan to help India combat the Covid-19 pandemic, as the number of cases in the country surpasses 56,000.

AAA Oils and Fats, the trading subsidiary of Singapore-based palm oil processor and distributor Apical Group, has returned to the offshore loan market for a $900m refinancing.

Despite a crash in dollar swap spreads as the US Treasury announced a record borrowing binge this week, SSA bankers remain bullish on supply, with KfW rumoured to be plotting a return to dollars after leaning heavily on euros for its benchmark funding this year.

The merger of the UK’s largest mobile phone operator, O2, with cable company Virgin Media, agreed on Thursday, will generate a £6bn financing need which the parties want to complete before the deal closes, expected to be in 2021 — and later on, it could lead to an IPO, say sources close to the deal.

The Kingdom of Bahrain moved emerging markets’ bond recovery beyond top tier issuers on Thursday as it printed a $2bn dual tranche dollar trade that raked in $11bn of demand.

Banks in the UK have built up large enough capital buffers to withstand the volume of credit losses expected to be triggered as a result of the economic shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank of England said.

The International Monetary Fund should be given a green light to create almost $1.4tr of new liquidity by issuing more of its own currency to help emerging economies hit by Covid-19, according to a former IMF executive who now runs an influential think tank.

Lebanon, already in the throes of a sovereign debt crisis before the coronavirus pamdemic, made its request for International Monetary Fund assistance last week. Although foreign investors welcomed it, the plan has already run into opposition at home, setting up an arduous path of negotiation.