Headlines

Angola has asked the IMF for talks on a bailout in return for more structural reform in Africa’s second-biggest crude exporter, the Financial Times reported. The IMF confirmed on Tuesday that Angola’s government under President João Lourenço asked “to initiate discussions on an economic programme” supported by bailout loans. The fund “stands ready to help the authorities address Angola’s economic challenges by supporting their economic policies and reforms”, it added.

Bank of Ireland is preparing to sell a first batch of senior bonds through its holding company, which was set up last year under new European rules aimed at minimising taxpayer bailouts in the event of a future crisis, The Irish Times reported. The bank, led by chief executive Francesca McDonagh, has hired JP Morgan, a unit of Royal Bank of Scotland, Nomura and UBS to market the five-year senior unsecured debt, subject to market conditions, according to market sources.

The rising threat of a no-deal Brexit is causing consternation for investors who are worried that more than €100bn of European bank debt issued under English law could no longer comply with the EU regulation, the Financial Times reported. Countries and companies alike have long turned to English law when raising money on international bond markets, in an attempt to reassure investors that disputes would be settled in a neutral venue known for relatively quick and predictable outcomes.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) said on Monday it had suspended trading of Kenya’s ARM Cement three days after it was put under administration, Reuters reported. “The suspension in trading of the company’s shares takes effect from August 20, 2018,” NSE said in a statement. “This suspension shall remain in force for seven (7) working days.” The suspension is issued with the approval of the Capital Markets Authority, NSE said.

China’s willingness to extend credit has transformed it into the best friend of emerging markets, a Bloomberg View reported. But there are reasons to believe the flow of easy money may suddenly dry up — just as distressed economies from Argentina and Venezuela to Turkey and Pakistan look to Beijing for a lifeline that would be less onerous than an International Monetary Fund bailout. In the last decade, China made more than $62 billion of loans to Venezuela, where hyperinflation prompted the government to devalue the bolivar by 95 percent at the weekend.

Turkey’s market mayhem came as no surprise to many emerging-market veterans. What investors may be underestimating, though, is the contagion risk for Brazil, according to Carmen Reinhart, the Cuban-born economist whose warning in May of perils to come proved prescient, Bloomberg News reported. "Do I think Turkey will turn into a major contagion episode? I think a key answer is what happens in Brazil," the Harvard professor said in an interview, citing high liquidity, political uncertainty and a debt-to-GDP ratio not seen in two centuries.

South Africa’s Land and Agricultural Development Bank has warned expropriating farm land without compensation could cost the government 41 billion rand ($2.8 billion) if it’s forced to repay the state company’s debt immediately, Bloomberg News reported. The lender has approximately 9 billion rand of debt that includes a standard market clause on expropriation as an event of default, the Land Bank’s Chairman Arthur Moloto said in the company’s annual report on Monday.

Ghana will continue to subject its public finances to the scrutiny of the International Monetary Fund after its bailout program with the lender ends in April, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said. While the government doesn’t intend to ask for a second bailout deal, it will seek other forms of cooperation with the IMF such as the Policy Support Instrument program, Ofori-Atta said in an emailed response to questions, Bloomberg News reported.

Greeks…won’t be celebrating when Greece’s international financial bailout ends on Aug. 20, The Wall Street Journal reported. The moment will mark the symbolic end of the eurozone’s long debt crisis, which put the survival of the single currency in doubt. The Athens government hails the end of the bailout as a historic day when Greece recovers its national freedom and independence. European Union officials hold up Greece’s graduation from its bailout as proof that the bloc’s much-criticized crisis management succeeded.

Hundreds of Venezuelans, some of whom walked 900 miles to escape economic disaster back home, saw their journeys abruptly halted this weekend on a frigid, remote border with Ecuador, The Wall Street Journal reported. Like other Latin American countries hosting thousands of fleeing Venezuelans, Ecuador suddenly erected a new entry barrier on Saturday requiring in this case passports rather than the national I.D. cards they accepted before.