Bonds fall after Central Bank scraps buy-back plan

REUTERS: Sri Lanka’s government bonds suffered their biggest drop in nearly seven weeks yesterday after the Central Bank scrapped a plan to buy back a chunk of the country’s debt on the cheap after default fears pounded prices. 

The country’s January 2022 and July 2022 issues shed 2 cents in the dollar, their biggest drop since late August. It left them at 89.4 cents and 74.3 cents, respectively, Tradeweb data showed. It followed the Central Bank yesterday saying it will halt plans to buy back US $ 1.5 billion of its international sovereign bonds due for redemption next year because of a lack of interest from bond holders to sell at deeply discounted prices.

Data released last week also showed a sharp drop in Sri Lanka’s currency reserves to US $ 2.58 billion, leaving them at a mere 1.6 months of trailing goods imports, according to analysts at Tellimer. “Without meaningful reforms, including FX devaluation and aggressive fiscal consolidation, backed by an IMF programme and funding, which the government continues to resist, we think Sri Lanka will be unable to stave off a wholesale BOP (balance of payments) crisis and default beyond 1Q 22,” Tellimer Senior Economist Patrick Curran said in a  research note.