Latin America

Paraguay tapped bond investors on Thursday to finance its portion of the transcontinental road, raising $732.3m of amortising notes with an average life of 8.9 years and using a zero coupon structure to reflect project payment flows.

A securitization that repackages Paraguayan government infrastructure financing is expected to be priced on Thursday after the bookrunner set initial price thoughts the day before.

Latin America’s best rated sovereign, Chile, will begin investor meetings on Thursday as it plots its third Euroclearable local currency deal.

Just one Latin American issuer has announced bond issuance plans as another day of market volatility had bankers pondering whether the favourable conditions that have prevailed almost uninterrupted since mid-January might be in danger.

There was little action in Latin American bonds on Monday as the UK took a bank holiday, but broader volatility in global markets sent most spreads in the region slightly wider and was enough to make some DCM bankers nervous.

Emerging market bankers and investors have been reacting to this week's attempt by the Venezuelan opposition to unseat president Nicolás Maduro, with some worrying that Russia's support for the government once again raises the risk of sanctions against that country.

The risk of a Cristina Fernández de Kirchner winning the presidential election in Argentina has spooked investors, causing the currency to sell off and bond prices to slump. But the weakening economy is bolstering support for president Mauricio Macri’s rivals, causing what investors are calling a “toxic feedback loop”.

Two Latin American borrowers are expected to come to market for dollar bonds on Thursday, having both completed roadshows. The dovish tone of the US Federal Reserve will have bolstered the deals "at the margin", said an investor.

The consortium constructing Paraguay’s portion of the Bioceanico highway, which will connect the Pacific and Atlantic oceans across South America, hit screens on Wednesday announcing a bond to finance construction.

A coup attempt in Venezuela has rekindled hopes among investors that president Nicolás Maduro will cede control to the opposition regime. The development drew the spotlight away from Argentina’s spiralling currency.

More than half of Santander’s profits came from Latin America and the US in the last quarter, amid a plan to make savings in Europe and expand across the Atlantic.

Argentina’s central bank has abandoned its promise to allow the peso to trade freely within a range and has received approval from the IMF to use its foreign currency reserves to intervene.