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Outlook for external financing of the public sector in Southeast Europe. Dubravko Mihaljek Bank for International Settlements Presentation at the Bank of Greece – University of Oxford (SEESOX) Conference
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Outlook for external financing of the public sector in Southeast Europe Dubravko Mihaljek Bank for International Settlements Presentation at the Bank of Greece – University of Oxford (SEESOX) Conference Achieving sustainable growth in Southeast Europe: Macroeconomic policies, structural reforms, socio-political support and a sound financial system Athens, 11 February 2011 The views expressed in this presentation are those of the author and not necessarily those of the BIS.
Outline • Global portfolio capital flows • Advanced economies vs. emerging markets • Emerging market regions • Central and eastern / Southeast Europe • Cross-border financing (bank lending and international bonds) • Emerging markets • Central and eastern Europe • Conclusion
Global portfolio capital flows Advanced economies vs. emerging markets • Post-crisis portfolio inflows to EMEs peaked in Q3-Q4:2010 • Jan-Feb 2011: shift to advanced economies, EM equity fund outflows strongest since 2008 • Concerns: EM equity valuations, EM inflation, developments in Northern Africa • Why advanced economies? • Mostly US equities – positive growth and earnings surprises in Q4:2010 • But also Australia, Japan, Italy and Spain
Portfolio capital flows (cont’d) Emerging market regions (data through 2 Feb 2011) • Inflows peaked in October 2010 • Sharp slowdown of portfolio inflows to emerging Asia and Latin America in Dec 2010–Jan 2011 • Week from 26 Jan to 2 Feb 2011 – strongest outflows from equity funds to Asia in three years • Steady flows into CEE through January, but net outflows in the week from 26 Jan to 2 Feb 2011 • Growth and interest rate differentials still likely to favour Asia and Latin America in 2011
Rising inflation – one reason why portfolio inflows to Asia are reversing
Equity prices declining, local currency bond yields rising as a result of higher inflation in emerging Asia
Portfolio capital flows (cont’d) Central and eastern Europe – larger economies • Portfolio inflows peaked in Oct 2010 • In central Europe, mostly flows into bond funds (especially Poland) • In Russia and Turkey, mostly flows into equity funds • Turkey – similar pattern of capital flows as emerging Asia and Latin America (decoupling from CEE?) • Russia – benefitting from rising oil prices
Portfolio capital flows (cont’d) Southeast Europe • Pattern of inflows differs from other emerging markets, CEE • Much smaller inflows than to other CEE countries • Mostly inflows into bond funds • Some evidence of spillovers from Greece in 2010
Cross-border banking flows • Resumption of cross-border bank lending to emerging Asia and Latin America in 2010: Q1–Q3 inflows exceeded pre-crisis (full-year) peak from 2007 • Bank lending to CEE was the last to recover among EM regions (Q3:2010 vs. Q3:2009 in Asia) • Some slowdown in bank lending to Asia, increase to Latin America and CEE in Q3:2010 • Bank lending to CEE unlikely to recover to pre-crisis peaks → Not surprising, inflows before the crisis were not sustainable (26% of gross inflows of private capital to EMEs in 2006, vs. only 11% of EMEs’ GDP)
Cross-border financing of CEE economies • Very slow recovery in cross-border bank lending • Still no cross-border bank lending to Southeast Europe in Q3:2010 • Cross-border lending to banks resumed on a larger scale only in Albania, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Turkey • …and to the non-bank sector only in Bulgaria and Croatia (Note: lending to the “non-bank” sector includes the public sector)
Cross-border financing of CEE economies(cont’d) • International bond financing more resilient – despite the crisis, many CEE countries placed sovereign bonds in 2009 and 2010 • But this came at a price: bond and CDS spreads remain quite high and fairly volatile • FX reserves position of several countries weakened in 2010 • But coverage of short-term debt by FX reserves mostly good in SEE
Conclusion Uncertainty about prospects for external financing of public sector in SEE: • Global capital flows no longer favouring emerging markets as in 2010. But still to early to see the trend • Within emerging Europe, SEE not a focus of international investors (except Turkey) • Resumption of cross-border lending very slow • International bond issuance more reliable – but costly – source of public sector external financing • FX reserves buffer generally seems adequate