Venezuela's dollar bonds, defaulted and sanctioned, have jumped this month (with prices for the VENZ '27s rising 50% from around US$6.5 to US$10, based on indicative prices on Bloomberg), presumably amid demand from non-US funds. It is not even clear...

What hole will a total Russian oil ban leave? Europe does not have the space to make such a move, suggesting that most of Russia's exports of 7mn bpd of crude are currently expected to survive the sanctions and bans. This will limit the extent to whi...

As most EM sovereign debt trading takes a day off to recover from the recent sell-off, with the US Columbus Day holiday, we take a look at the performance of sovereign currency bonds during this period and identify the winners and losers (mainly lose...

A US$650bn general SDR allocation has finally been agreed by the IMF, after the last hurdle to its implementation, approval by the Fund’s Board of Governors, was granted yesterday (see statement). The IMF MD, Kristalina Georgieva, called it a histori...

The IMF has announced finally that its Executive Board has approved a proposal for a new general SDR allocation, equivalent to US$650bn, according to a statement published late yesterday by the IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva. If approved, the SDR alloca...

During the Covid-19 pandemic, several governments across Latin America mobilised available security forces – including police reserves, the military and the navy – to assist in responding to the pandemic. Security personnel are regularly arrested for...