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The Inter-American Development Bank has bumped up its 2020 funding programme by almost a quarter to fund its response to the coronavirus pandemic. -
Unsecured euro money market borrowing this week reached its highest level since the European Central Bank began publishing statistics in November 2017, driven by issuers scrambling for funds to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to one analyst.
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The Bank of England this week signaled that it is changing its stance and considering bringing its base rate into negative territory. But with the UK Debt Management Office (DMO) issuing three year paper with a negative yield for the first time, as well as printing £7bn ($8.56bn) of 41 year bonds, there are few worries for the SSA market.
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The recent maturity of a large Nokkie line released NOK9bn ($904.5m) into the market last week, with some foreign investors eager to reinvest in attractive short end paper.
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JP Morgan, the leading SSA bookrunner over the last five years, is clinging onto pole position for 2020, despite a mighty effort from Citi, which has topped the rankings since the Covid-19 pandemic began disrupting markets in earnest. But it is a far different picture in SSA MTNs with Scandinavians surging to the top, thanks to a growth in niche currency supply.
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The pain that negative rates in dollars could cause money market funds hangs like an albatross around the US Federal Reserve’s neck. Talk of them has picked up over the last week as US Federal Funds Futures prices started to imply they were on their way, while president Donald Trump pushed the topic on Twitter, even though and Fed chair Jerome Powell appeared to rule them out.
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The Norges Bank surprised the market with an unexpected base rate cut to a record low of zero on Thursday. Since the start of the year, coronavirus volatility and wildly gyrating oil prices have buffeted the value of the kroner.
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Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Finland has found a novel way to meet its increased funding needs: private placements. Over the last six weeks, the sovereign has supplemented its regular auctions with €5.65bn of privately placed trades, issuing private debt off its benchmark bond programme for the first time ever.
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The European Central Bank’s press conference on Thursday did not provide the headline fireworks that its last meeting did. The sombre tone caused “disappointment” among investors and a slight widening of peripheral spreads. SSA issuers were also left dissatisfied with the bank’s lack of support for the money markets.
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The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia made its first visit to the offshore renminbi market earlier this week, continuing this year’s SSA dim sum shopping spree.
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The ECB has, despite an early gaffe, decided that it is its job to close spreads after all — and for the most part, it is excelling in its task. But its attention is focused on the bond market and, as a result, those who rely on the money markets for short term funding are suffering.
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A slide in euro and dollar MTN volumes has given Scandinavian banks the chance to propel themselves up the MTN leader board.
