Fixed Income
Although the IMF’s board in Washington announced final approval of a USD 17bn stand-by program for Ukraine last week, the country’s sovereign Eurobonds nonetheless ended the week sharply lower as continuing escalation of military conflict in the east of the country kept investors on edge. Quotes for the benchmark Ukraine-2023 issue fell 4.2% to close at 82.0/83.5 (10.7%/10.4%) as optimism regarding the injection of Western cash was offset by concerns about risks to the holding of the country’s scheduled presidential election later this month, along with uncertainty about whether Ukraine could lose more territory. Medium term Ukraine-17s slid 3.3% to close at 87.0/88.2 (14.4%/13.9%), while the quasi-sovereign debt papers of Naftogaz with maturity in September declined by 1.5%, ending at 88.7/89.7 (17.8%/13.2%).
