UK Sovereign

Efforts by the UK Treasury to shore up investor confidence in Gilts ahead of a referendum on Scottish independence could create more uncertainty in the long term, according to analysts.

The UK’s Debt Management Office is in discussions with the Turkish Treasury — and other countries — about the practicalities of launching a debut £200m sukuk.

The end of November finds almost every sovereign in the scorecard more than 90% funded for the year. Italy's cause was helped in no small part by a bumper €22.3bn domestic inflation linked bond at the start of the month. The UK - with a funding year running from April March - is also well on track with 70% of its programme completed.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron unveiled plans for a sovereign sukuk debut at the World Islamic Economic Forum on Tuesday. A deal could come as soon as next financial year.

The sovereign funding scorecard expands beyond Europe this month with the addition of Japan. The country has a whopping ¥156.8tr (€1.2tr) target this year but is well on track having raised ¥136.2tr so far.

France and the UK, downgraded by Fitch earlier this year, will probably have to wait until at least 2021 to regain their top ratings, according to a report from the rating agency released this week.

A big new UK government-guaranteed bond issuer is likely to appear in the next few years: the special purpose vehicle that will build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

The UK Debt Management Office printed a larger than planned tap of a 3.5% July 2068 conventional Gilt on Tuesday — leaving it with one inflation linked reopening to complete its syndicated work for the financial year. The sovereign got the deal away ahead of the delayed release of US nonfarm payroll data scheduled for later in the day.

Austria, Belgium, Finland and the UK were among the European sovereigns to add to their funding totals with benchmark deals this month.

The UK took home £1bn more than planned and inverted the far end of its inflation linked yield curve with its longest dated index linker ever on Tuesday.

As European sovereigns gear up for a busy period of auctions in late August and September, here are the latest funding figures for selected issuers.

The UK’s Debt Management Office (DMO) priced on Tuesday a £4bn increase of its 0.125% March 2044 inflation-linked Gilt. It was the first time that the DMO has syndicated a slug of inflation-linked debt since November 2012 when it tapped the same issue.