Business

List of countries with highest default risk 2022

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

The South Asian nation Sri Lanka defaulted in May 2022 for the first time on its debt. Its government was given an ultimatum of 30 days to cover $78 million in unpaid interest, however, it failed to do so.

This raises an important question: Which other countries are at risk of default in 2022?

According to Visual Capitalist via Bloomberg, here are countries with a higher risk of default this year. Pakistan is also included in the list.

List of countries with highest default risk 2022

The Sovereign Debt Vulnerability Ranking — a composite measure of a country’s default risk — by Bloomberg is based on four metrics; government bond yields (the weighted-average yield of the country’s dollar bonds), five-year credit default swap (CDS) spread, interest expense as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), and government debt as a percentage of GDP.

In order to have a better understanding, let’s take a look at Ukraine and El Salvador.

Ukraine’s Bond Yields

Due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the former has a higher risk of default. If Russia takes control of the country, Ukraine might not be able to repay its existing debt obligations.

This has caused a sell-off of Ukrainian government bonds, resulting in a decrease in their value to 30 cents on the dollar. This means that a bond could be purchased for $30, having a face value of $100.

The average yield on these bonds has increased to 60.4% as it moves in the opposite direction of the price. “As a point of comparison, the yield on a US 10-year government bond is currently 2.9%,” according to Visual Capitalist.

CDS Spread

In the case of a default, a lender can get insurance with the help of credit default swaps (CDS), which are a type of financial contract.

A CDS seller represents a third party between the lender (investors) and borrower (in this case, governments).

The buyer pays a fee, which is also known as spread in return. It is expressed in basis points (bps). The investor has to pay $3 per year if a CDS has a spread of 300 bps (3%) to insure $100 in debt.

If this is applied to Ukraine’s five-year CDS spread of 10,856 bps (108.56%), the investor would have to pay $108.56 yearly to insure $100 in debt, suggesting the market’s less faith in Ukraine to prevent itself from being defaulted.

El Salvador’s higher ranking

As compared to Ukraine, El Salvador has a higher ranking due to its “larger interest expense and total government debt.”

The data shows that El Salvador’s annual interest payments are equal to 4.9% of its GDP, making it higher. Meanwhile, the US has a federal interest cost of about 1.6% of GDP in 2020.

El Salvador has outstanding debts of about 82.6% of GDP when totalled which is high by historical standards.

“The next date to watch will be January 2023, as this is when the country’s $800 million sovereign bond reaches maturity,” per the Visual Capitalist.

Research says that El Salvador would face significant but temporary negative effects if it defaults.

Business

PSX surpasses the historical 71,500-point threshold.

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Investors celebrated as the PSX finally crossed the historic 71,500 point threshold, signalling a critical turning point in the state of the economy in the country.

The KSE-100 index jumped more than 740 points, soaring to a record high of 71,650 points, demonstrating the tenacity and optimism that pervaded the Pakistani financial market.

This outstanding accomplishment indicates strong growth possibilities for the foreseeable future and demonstrates investors’ faith in the nation’s economic prospects.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)’s KSE-100 index saw a minor decline of 60.92 points on Friday, or 0.09 percent, and ended the day at 70,483.66 points.

In the foreign exchange market, the US dollar lost value in relation to the Pakistani rupee at the same time.

Currency dealers claim that on the first day of the workweek, the value of the US dollar dropped by 11 paisas to Rs278.20 in the interbank market, significantly strengthening the rupee.

Business

Outsourcing: Investors from Turkey stop by the airport in Karachi

Published

1 day ago

Farwa

Turkish investors, who are interested in outsourcing Pakistan’s airport industry, sent a high-level team to Karachi Airport.

The domestic arrival and departure lounge at Karachi airport was visited by the Turkish investment group, according to information. The investors were briefed about the workings of the Karachi airport by a delegation of the Civil Aviation Authority, headed by Secretary Aviation Saif Anjum.

An update on the volume of people and business leaving the airport was also provided to Turkish investors. It is anticipated that the delegation would tour the cargo terminal and CAA headquarters today.

The nation’s three main airports, Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, were formerly to be outsourced by the federal government.

Interest in outsourcing three of Pakistan’s airports has been expressed by local parties as well as investors from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, and Turkiye.

The timeframe for proposal submission for Islamabad International Airport’s outsourcing was extended by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) earlier on March 21.

The government’s top objective in the process of outsourcing international airports, according to Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, is openness.

First, he stated that Pakistan is willing to participate in a public-private partnership to outsource a portion of the airport’s commercial activities.

Business

The inaugural flight of Azerbaijan Airlines is between Baku and Karachi.

Published

4 days ago

Farwa

The national airline of Azerbaijan launched direct flights from Baku to Karachi today. There will be two weekly flights on this route, on Thursdays and Sundays.

The first flight will land in Karachi, and Azerbaijan’s ambassador, Khazar Farhadov, will be there to greet it.

This evening also marks the departure of the inaugural flight from Karachi to Baku, in addition to the arrival of the flight from Baku.

Azerbaijan Airlines said last month that it would be growing its network and flight operations in Pakistan.

Aviation insiders have verified that Azerbaijan Airlines is preparing to launch service to Karachi in the coming month of April.

In addition to its current services in Islamabad and Lahore, the airline plans to launch its Karachi route on April 18, with the inaugural flight anticipated to depart on that date.

Azerbaijan Airlines has been given permission to operate flights on the Karachi route, according to sources within the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Following a bilateral agreement between the two nations, Azerbaijan Airlines has been given permission to extend its operations in Pakistan.