The Editorial Team |

Moody’s downgrades Ghana’s sovereign rating to B3; outlook negative

Moody’s Investors Service has today downgraded Ghana’s issuer and senior unsecured rating by one notch to B3 from B2. The outlook on the rating is negative. The key drivers of today’s rating action are the following: 1) Deteriorating debt dynamics as reflected by an increasing debt burden due to large fiscal imbalances and a sharp weakening of the country’s national currency, combined with reduced debt affordability stemming from a high cost of funding in the…

Zambia central bank to address volatile kwacha

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia’s central bank will take measures to deal with the volatility in the kwacha’s exchange rate against the dollar, including tightening liquidity in the market, new Governor Denny Kalyalya said on Friday. The kwacha turned on his comments, firming by 1.3 percent to 7.55, having earlier fallen more than 1.1 percent against the greenback. The currency weakened to a record low of 7.7500 on Thursday. The local unit has fallen about 20…

Global Corporate Bond Issurance and Outlook

Posted on by The Editorial Team

After advancing by 33% annually in 2012 to a record $1.134 trillion, 2013’s US$-denominated investment grade (IG) bond issuance dipped by -1.5% to $1.119 trillion. Following 2012’s 48% annual surge, US$-denominated high yield bond issuance advanced by 11% to a record $431 billion in 2013. Also, after gaining 5% in 2012, newly rated high yield bank loan programs increased by 38% annually to $579 billion in 2013. In 2014, US$-denominated bond issuance edged up by…

Moody’s ASIA PACIFIC Economic Outlook

Posted on by The Editorial Team

China’s data for the first two months of the year were fairly dismal. Most activity indicators suggest that there are large downward pressures on the economy, which means that the government will need to ease measures if it is to keep the economy growing close to its target. Industrial production grew just 6.8% y/y in the first two months of the year, down from a 7.9% increase in December. This was due to further weakness…

Moody’s: M&A Props Up Corporate Issuance

Posted on by The Editorial Team

A recent surge in merger activity brings the current year’s pace in line with last year’s massive gains. Such heavy dealmaking volume is likely to persist, given favourable capital markets and the desire of firms to gain scale amid weak profit growth. That merger trend can give a great lift to corporate debt issuance, despite earlier expectations for a slowdown in corporate borrowing. Adding to the favourable environment for both issuance and M&A is a…

Moody’s: Namibia’s strong growth record and sound public finances support stable Baa3 rating

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Namibia’s (Baa3 stable) small but diversified economy, strong growth record and responsible government budget management underpin its rating, Moody’s Investors Service says today in its annual Credit Analysis for the country. Namibia’s abundant natural resources, infrastructure investment and developments in the mining sector support its favourable near-term growth prospects, while government deficits have been moderate. “The government has a track record of prudent debt management and has adequate debt recording systems,” says Kristin Lindow, Senior…

Egypt’s current account hits deficit of $2.9 bln in Oct-Dec quarter

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s current account deficit widened to $2.9 billion in the three months to December from $1.4 billion in the same period the previous year, according to Reuters calculations. The deficit stood at $4.3 billion in the first half of the fiscal year which began on July 1, compared with a deficit of $866 million in the same period a year before, the central bank said on Thursday. The deficit was driven by…

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