COLOMBIA: Finance Minister Guevara Confirms Resignation, January Trade Due
Mar-19 11:36
- Finance Minister Guevara confirmed his resignation overnight, stepping down from the role after only three and a half months in office. In a post on X, he said that the decision was made following a “calm and friendly” conversation with President Petro. It came shortly after the Senate’s social security committee voted to shelve the government’s labour reform last night.
- Guevara’s replacement has yet to be named, although there were reports yesterday that Germán Ávila, previously the President of the Bicentenario group, would be appointed to the role. Whoever is appointed, they will become the fourth person to hold the position throughout President Petro's term.
- Today, trade balance figures for January will be published at 1500GMT(1100ET), with consensus for the deficit to have widened to $1.3bn, from $835.9mn in December. The data follow stronger-than-expected economic activity data yesterday, which revealed a 2.7% y/y expansion in the economy in January.
- Despite the unexpected rise of inflation in February, analysts still expect BanRep to deliver a 25bp rate cut on March 31 according to this week’s BanRep survey, after unexpectedly pausing in January. However, the latest political turmoil and uncertainty over the outlook for fiscal policy risk a continuation of that pause.
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BUNDS: /SWAPS: ASWs Unwind Friday's Widening On Defense Spending Prospects
Feb-17 11:31
Long-end German ASWs have fully reversed Friday’s widening, with outright yields increasing on the prospect of increased European defence spending in the event of a US-brokered peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
- Buxl ASW vs. 3-month Euribor is ~3bps tighter today at -39bps, after widening to a multi-week high of -34.5bps on Friday morning. Bund ASW is also 2.5bps tighter, with more modest movements seen at the short-end.
- Last week’s widening was seemingly a combination of US spread spillover and concentrated short positioning in German long-end spreads. Reduced expectations for a long-end Bund syndication ahead of the Feb 23 German election may have also played a role.
- Although we pencil in a 30-year Bund syndication for this week, our conviction is waning ahead of the election. We wouldn’t rule out a mandate announcement for today, with a transaction tomorrow, but the later in the week we go the less likely the transaction would be.
- The prospect of debt brake reform following the election result (the probability of which depends on the eventual composition of the Bundestag) presents a key near-term risk to ASWs, even if the implementation of any reforms would likely take some time. MNI’s full German election preview will be released early this week.
- On a medium/longer-term basis, fundamentals point to further tightening of ASWs, with the ECB’s balance sheet run-off increasing free-float of German paper and easing concerns around collateral availability.
Figure 1: German ASWs
OPTIONS: Expiries for Feb17 NY cut 1000ET (Source DTCC)
Feb-17 11:29
- EUR/USD: $1.0500(E3.6bln)
- USD/JPY: Y148.20($986mln), Y152.00-20($1.1bln)
- AUD/USD: $0.6285-00(A$515mln)
CHINA: Pre-Session NPC Meeting Set for February 24-25
Feb-17 11:23
- State media announces a fresh National People's Congress meeting for February 24 - 25th.
- Note that this new meeting comes just ahead of the third annual session in Beijing, confirmed for March 5th. At this session, lawmakers are expected to review the government's work report and approach to implementing national plans on economic and social development - as well as drafting strategies for 2025.
- As such, it's likely this new meeting announcement is for agenda-setting and coordinating the finer details of for the annual session.
