Poor Run for Kenya As Eurobond Yields Remain Subdued in H1
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14 THE-STAR.CO.KE Monday, August 5, 2019 NEWS BUSINESS did precisely that on a motor bike possible for Mortgage rates to be at Britain? Can he be stopped? This is the first time ever. Emerging Market and called his book ‘’Investment 15%.’’ a political calculation. Prime Minister currencies went into a tail-spin. The Biker’’. That was his insight and that day Johnson has elected to take quite Market scooped up gold, the Swiss Of course it was George Soros he did not make as much as Soros properly an ‘’Impossible is nothing’’ franc and the Yen. and his subsequent partner Stanley but must have been close. By the and ‘’can-do’’ political posture but The most important currency Druckenmiller who forced the Pound evening, Norman Lamont the Chan- the bottom line is can he swing it? to watch right now is the USDCNH Sterling out of the exchange rate cellor had capitulated the Pound was if he can swing it then he has to which was last at 6.9738 on the off MARKET REPORT mechanism on a black Wednesday gone in a Puff of smoke and interest face down the “whispering death” shore markets. It could slice through ALY KHAN SATCHU 16 September 1992. I recall that day rates were back in single digits. [Michael Holding who was thus nick- 7.00 like a hot knife through butter. in slow motion and as if it were a Last week the Pound traded be- named because He was exactly that “We are sitting in a vehicle whose news reel. I was then on the trading low $1.2100 and is now in danger of when he opened the bowling for the wheels have fallen off,” Derek Ma- floor at Credit Suisse First Boston taking out its post-referendum low West Indies] that will be the foreign tyszak, a senior researcher at a Sou- ‘’What’s your and the speed of thought and exe- [$1.1860 but there is considerable exchange markets. London’s Capital th African think tank, the Institute cution I witnessed that day, I never debate about this number because it Economics conducted an exercise of Security Studies, told AFP about road, man? witnessed again ever. Permit me the happened in the middle of the night for the dollar-sterling exchange rate, Zimbabwe but that might well apply ’ What’s your road, man? - holy- indulgence of dwelling on that day when Gremlins and Goblins stalk the and found that for every 10-percen- to the FX Markets, momentarily. boy road, madman road, rainbow for a moment. At 10:30am on Sep- FX markets] after which the only tage-point increase in the chance President Trump keeps talking ‘road, guppy road, any road. It’s an tember16, the British government significant landmarks left would be of “no deal” equates to the pound about weakening the Dollar. I find it anywhere road for anybody anyhow. announced a rise in the base interest the low set in 1985, a few months losing 3.5 cents on the dollar. curious that ‘’such a stable genius’’ Where body how?” - rate from an already high 10 to 12 per before finance ministers agreed in So if there is really still a 65% has yet to calculate that a strong Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is cent to tempt speculators to buy the Plaza Accord to limit the strength chance of “no deal,” sterling stands Dollar is infinitely better and if he is an iconic novel and is considered a pounds. Despite this and a promise of the dollar and then, only a few to drop an additional 22 cents or so. serious about his warfare strategy defining work of the postwar beat later the same day to raise base cents lower, parity with the dollar. As [John Authers] Thats Parity right he needs to add currency warfare and counterculture generations, with rates again to 15 per cent, dealers I watched the Pound fall like a stone, there. We are currently experiencing to his Tariff, sanction and linguistic its protagonists living life against a kept selling pounds. On my left was I could not help wondering if this the Bow wave of what could metasi- warfare Arsenal. backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug the Proprietary Trading Desk and he Sterling moment is precisely like it ze into a shock wave. My Perspective about the Dollar is use. When I re-read these books, I lent billions and billions of Pounds at was in 1992, a no brainer. The Tariff warfare, sanction and this [and note well its just a fraction cannot help feeling that the world 15 per cent. ‘Boris isn’t bluffing. Every action, linguistic warfare specialist slapped under its 2019 high even after a rate has lost its wide-eyedness and I asked ‘’what are you doing?’’ every appointment, every word sin- a 10% tariff on the remaining $300b cut]; There is very little President innocence. I am also tempted to get because the desk was at that mo- ce he entered Number 10 signals the of Chinese imports. US 10-Year Trump can do. In fact the risk is this myself an open-topped car and just ment the only one in the entire City same thing: Britain is leaving the EU Treasury Yields sank below 1.90%. that when the market sees he is take off and find out what exactly of London on that side everyone on October 31’ said the Telegraph’s The entire German yield curve went powerless, the Dollar might lift off is going on. Jim Rogers who was the desperately was trying to hedge Daniel J Hannan. negative. like the proverbial Parabola. co-founder of the Quantum Fund their books. The Key question is this. Can The World’s pile of negative debt and Soros Fund Management in fact He responded ‘’Aly-Khan Its not Prime Minister Johnson self-eject jumped to more than $14 trillion for Aly-Khan is a financial analyst BEAR RUN Poor run for Kenya as Eurobond yields remain subdued in H1 GOOD DECISION Yields on Kenya’s Eurobond have been on a downward trend since January 9 MAKING MAKES IT EASY TO ACHIEVE third Eurobond issue, raising Sh210 GOALS billion ($2.1 billion) in two tranches VICTOR AMADALA of seven and 12 years priced at rate “Any decision can be @ItsAmadala seven and eight per cent respectively. easier if you think Kenya’s external debt position has grown from Sh2.6 trillion in carefully about your Recent arrests at Treasury and global September last year to 3.02 trillion, goals; the dimensions micro economics last week toll on pushing up the the country’s total of yourself that are Kenya’s inaugural Eurobond issued public debt. most important to you; in 2014, with yields dropping further According to CBK, the country’s your needs and wants; by 0.7 per cent. public debt expanded by 15.2 per Weekly bulletin by the Central cent to hit Sh5.89 trillion from the specific costs and Bank of Kenya shows yields on Sh5.039 trillion in June 2018, as benefits associated Kenya’s 10-year Eurobond at 5.2 per Treasury plunged into the cred- with your choices; the cent dropping from 5.9 per cent last it market to fund infrastructural commensurability of week, attributed to mistrust by for- projects. those choices; and eign investors and increased demand The poor performance of Kenya’s for emerging market fixed-income capital market extended to Nairobi whether certain goals securities.The US put a pause on its Securities Exchange (NSE) where should be sequenced three-year cycle of tightening its NSE 20 index which captures move- instead of pursued monetary policy, having lowered ment of select blue chip stock almost simultaneously to give the Fed Rate in July for the first time fell outside 2600 points, a decade you a better chance of since 2008 to a range of two per cent l ow. -2.25 per cent, which has made re- The NASI, NSE 25 and NSE 20 achieving success. turns from fixed income securities share price indices declined by 0.34 Treasury officials led by former CS Henry Rotich during an announcement on a Instead of striving for more attractive. percent, 0.64 per cent and 1.69 per- new $2 billion (Sh203billion) Eurobond transaction on February 22, 2018 /FILE work–life balance, or Yields on Kenya’s Eurobond have cent, respectively. even worrying about been on a downward trend, moving The decline in NASI was largely August 1. $4.3 million. juggling on the balance from a high of 7.5 per cent on Jan- due to losses recorded in large-cap For this week, equities turnover ‘‘With the market trading at val- uary 10 to the current 5.2 per cent, counters such as Bamburi and NIC decreased by 8.9 per cent to $21.3 uations below the historical aver- beam, you can use this trailing that of Ghana and Angola. Group, which recorded losses of 7.2 million, from $23.4 million the pre- age, we believe there is value in the framework to pursue The poor performance of Kenya’s per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively. vious week, bringing the year to date market,’’ market analysts at Cytonn your life’s work— debt in the international holds the Similarly, market capitalization, (YTD) turnover to $882.8 million. Investment said. holistically seeking both country’s future prospects to raise equity turnover and volume of Foreign investors were net buyers Trading activity in the domestic success and satisfaction cheaper funds from foreign investors shares traded declined by 0.34 per for the week, with a net buying po- secondary bond market increased to fund its budget.