Page 25 - bne_newspaper_March_30_2018

Weekly Lists
March 30, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
bne:Credit
Turkey’s lira and cost of insuring sovereign debt hit again by economic and geopolitical nerves
The Turkish lira (TRY) on March 28 weakened beyond the psychologically important level of 4.0 to the dollar while the cost of insuring exposure to Turkish sovereign debt moved up to the highest level seen since the end of November last year.
Investors remained rattled by economic difficulties such as an over- heating economy, sticky double-digit inflation, a surging current account deficit and Turkey’s exposure to Fed rate hikes. Geopolitical woes such as uncertainty over the course of Turkey’s military en- gagements in Syria and strained relations with both the EU and the US are also not helping sentiment in regard to a country that has now been under a state of emergency for approaching 21 months.
During the day, the TRY briefly touched 4.0150, close to the record low of 4.0375 it recorded last week. It stood at 4.0004 at around 1945 Istanbul time.
Ukraine's Finance Ministry sold local bonds for UAH21.3bn ($800mn), UAH2.7bn and $700mn in a March 27 tender, which is the highest amount raised so far this year.
Dollar-denominated bonds, with a 5.1% interest rate and October 2018 maturity date, brought in $406.3mn, about half of all auction receipts. The interest rates for the one-year (5.3%) and two-year (5.4%) dollar-denominated bonds did not change since their pre- vious placements in January. They raised $179mn and $84.1mn, respectively.
"The relatively high receipts from the sale of FCY-denominated lo- cal bonds will help to make the FCY-denominated debt repayment of $1.4bn during March, thereby avoiding a drastic hit to Ukraine's international reserves," Evgeniya Akhtyrko at Kyiv-based brokerage Concorde Capital wrote in a research note on March 28.
Members of the senate’s expert committee for economy have invited central bank officials to discuss the dynamics of inflation and the impact on the economy, hotnews.ro reported.
The senators’ invitation follows rising criticism expressed by the ruling coalition against the monetary authority and seems to be an attempt to gain a degree of control over monetary policy. The expiry of central bank governor Mugur Isarescu’s term in 2019 smooths the government's plans. The ruling coalition has already blamed the monetary authority for the rising consumer prices and interest rates.
Ukraine raises $800mn via local bond placement
Romania’s parliament summons central bank governor over inflation concerns