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Members of the emerging markets debt investment community descended on Washington DC last week for the spring IMF meetings. Over the course of the week, the EMsights team conducted over 100 meetings and actively engaged in conversations with a diverse range of government officials and representatives.

Given the sell-off in emerging markets debt year to date, we entered the week expecting a decidedly bearish mood, though we were surprised to find a rather neutral outlook overall.

EMsights Capital Group believes that economic and political freedoms and rule of law are important precursors for the economic development, growth, education and sustainability of sovereign countries. Through our on-the-ground country visits, we follow a country’s pursuit and execution of fair and free elections, civil liberties, functioning of government, and the importance it places on economic freedom.

The SEC voted in December to require more US Treasury bonds to be centrally cleared in order to improve market resiliency, and it continues to propose major reforms to that market. These reforms are getting significant attention in the press and sparking a debate on financial news and social media platforms. Emerging markets investors might be forgiven for paying little attention to market structure developments in US Treasuries, but ignoring these developments is a mistake. 

The National Bank of Serbia opted to hold benchmark interest rates unchanged at 6.5% for the eighth consecutive meeting, citing global uncertainties and persistent inflationary pressures as the rationale. This restrictive policy is at odds with its Central European peers, some of which are already several rate cuts deep into their easing cycles, but we applaud this prudent approach for Serbia.  

Serbian inflation fell to 5.6% year over year in February, but forecasts do not show inflation dropping into its target band of 3% +/- 1.5% for a few more months.

The South African government announced an unconventional strategy last week that involved tapping into its gold and foreign exchange reserves in an effort to temper its growing debt burden. While investors initially cheered this financial maneuver, we are more skeptical. Unfortunately the government announced this strategy without clearly outlining the governance of the framework. We break down the transaction and potential drawbacks below:

Kenya’s upcoming $2 billion Eurobond payment due in June 2024 had been a cause of concern for many investors as the maturity quickly approached. However, in mid-February, a pivot in the country’s approach to raise funds quickly alleviated investors’ anxieties: Kenya successfully issued $1.5 billion through an international bond sale that was well oversubscribed, and used the cash to buy back 96% of its 2024 obligation at par. In our eyes, the government’s decision to issue was a smart move and a crucial step towards alleviating short-term risks for the country. It greatly reduces the event risk surrounding the impending Eurobond maturity and creates room for policymakers to turn their attention to a policy agenda that puts the country on a better and more sustainable path moving forward.

Hiding behind the picturesque beaches, tropical rainforests, and immense coral reef biodiversity of Papua New Guinea is a precarious socio-economic situation. High unemployment, crime and a volatile political landscape often dominate the headlines of the natural-resource rich pacific nation and have hindered economic development. However, tailwinds from ongoing and prospective natural resource projects along with a recent push for fiscal reforms poise the country for an upswing and position it for increasing geopolitical importance.

2024 is expected to be one of the biggest election years on record with more than half of the world’s population planning to go to the polls. This busy election calendar comes at a particularly opportune time as geo-political tensions are running high across the globe.

The EMsights Capital Group held their annual research retreat in December. For two days the investment team gathered off-site to recap the events of 2023 and look forward to 2024. This year’s agenda also featured several outside speakers ranging in expertise from the Russia/Ukraine war to the current health of the US economy.

Over the course of the two days, the team identified several cross-regional trends they expect to remain prominent in 2024:

Zambia defaulted in 2020 on its sovereign bonds and has been on an unrelenting quest to restructure its debt since. While finding itself in distress is not notable, the country’s plan to find its way out may be. Zambia serves as the first meaningful test of the Common Framework—a Group of 20 (G20) initiative to simplify and accelerate the sovereign debt restructuring process. In a perfect world, this initiative should create a quick and successful resolution for Zambia and pave the way for other emerging economies seeking debt-relief. Unfortunately, as we know all too well, the world is far from perfect.