Debt Management
Maastricht criteria tough enough to contain crisis threat: Cyprus
Central Bank of Cyprus paper finds risk of default zero if debt-to-GDP and primary surplus ratios remain below limits set out in Maastricht Treaty; paper mentions Greece and Italy as states where there is a default risk n
ECB’s Bini Smaghi: Greece cannot default
ECB’s Lorenzo Bini Smaghi says an orderly default is simply not an option to solving Greece’s fiscal burden
Libor climbs as uncertainty in European markets grows
Libor rises to highest in more than ten months as lending in European markets slows down
Dubai World agrees restructuring terms
Government owned investment company agrees the terms of a $23.5 billion restructuring effort with creditors and state; markets welcome news
Central banks in biggest US Treasury sell-off for three years
Federal Reserve data shows foreign holders of US treasuries moved away from the dollar
IMF: fiscal prudence pays in emerging markets
IMF study shows that an improving fiscal position improves sovereign debt grading and reduces financing costs in emerging-market economies.
Senate okays disputed Argentine reserve transfer
Lawmakers in Argentina's upper house approve president’s decree to transfer $4.4 billion of central bank reserves to bond repayment fund
Trichet: economic, not monetary, reform of EMU necessary
ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet calls for broader economic reforms to mend Europe’s Economic Monetary Union (EMU)
Portuguese rating takes double-notch beating
Standard & Poor’s downgrades long-term rating to A- and short-term rating to A-2 on concerns over deteriorating macroeconomic environment, credit default spreads stretch further
ECB: fiscal deficits attributable to crisis
ECB paper shows European fiscal budgets were unprepared for intervening in markets during crisis
Greece’s $40 billion bailout an improvement, but issues remain
Markets soothed as firm details of Greek rescue plan are announced, eurozone will provide €30 billion at discounted 5% rate for year forward, analysts less convinced
Jilted bondholders can attack Argentine central bank’s assets: US court
US judge decrees central bank and government one entity and breaks dam guarding assets from unpaid creditors; central bank expected to appeal ruling
Icesave casts pall over Iceland’s credit outlook
Ratings agency Moody’s kicks its outlook on Iceland down to negative on intractable Icesave dispute, change leaves Icelandic bonds hovering just above junk status
British bonds rest on “a bed of nitroglycerine”: Pimco chief
Head of biggest bond fund sees investors penalising gilts as British attachment to quantitative easing stirs worry that government seeks to inflate debt away
Boston Fed measures effect of equity extraction on consumption
Boston Fed research shows equity extraction as significant driving force for consumption during US housing boom
Russian central bank “lacks capacity” to handle assets
Russian sovereign fund management chief says new agency will take debt and asset responsibilities over from central bank, Russian reserve stash severely depleted by financial crisis
ECB in about-turn on collateral rules
Move reflects concern over Greece; Trichet says graded haircut system set to be introduced
UK debt management official parries demand fears
Co-head of policy and markets says she is confident that market for gilts deep and liquid enough to withstand end of QE
Sovereign risk worries overstated: panel
Debt experts from Bank of Italy, National Bank of Denmark and French debt agency point to reassuring signs of continuing life in the sovereign debt markets
The end is nigh for the eurozone over Greece
Economists Geoffrey Wood and Charles Dumas say the Greek debt crisis is set to tear asunder Europe’s poorly built Economic and Monetary Union, split over IMF bailout
Portugal suffers downgrade
Sovereign debt marked down a notch by Fitch; move eaxcerbates eurozone tensions
Only the IMF can save Greece: Berlin
German government backs away from a European bailout for debt-ridden Greece, Fund rescue looks increasingly likely
Major economies must heed Greece lesson: Carmen Reinhart
Co-author of This Time is Different warns sovereigns on debt sustainability
US, UK on the road to a downgrade: Moody’s
If the US and Britain cannot repair their balance sheets, the burden of servicing debt could cause them to lose AAA ratings, agency says