Russian forest holding company, Segezha Group, has signed a 5-year €383.6mn syndicated loan with ING (Eurasia), ING (Dublin), AO Raiffeisenbank, Raiffeisenbank International and Sberbank, who were also the MLAs, according to the company's press release. The loan can be extended by an additional 7-10 years through ECA financing with insurance coverage from European ECAs. Additional lenders are also able to join the transaction. The loan's structure includes corporate financing and investment project financing tools. The funds will be used for financing the Group's investment programme and for general corporate purposes.
Brazil's National Monetary Council said this week that it would allow states operating under the fiscal adjustment program to tap BRL7bn in new credit backed by the national treasury. The country's states have been prohibited from issuing fresh debt since 2014.
Representatives from about 50 grain companies in Egypt are drafting a letter to Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, requesting that the government helps cover losses they claim to have suffered from the pound’s flotation, which they estimate to be around US$6-7bn as a result of foreign exchange losses.
Singapore's industrial production rose 1.2% year-on-year in October, down from a 7.7% increase in September according to the Singapore Economic Development Board. The markets were expecting a 1.1% rise according to Trading Economics.
Malaysian CPI rose 1.4% year-on-year in October, slightly down from the 1.5% year-on-year increase in September according to the Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Trading Economics noted that market expectations were for a 1.5% rise.
In Brazil, loans in arrears for 90 days or more remained at record highs for a third straight month in October according to a report from the country's Central Bank. The loan delinquency ratio reached 5.9% of all outstanding non-earmarked loans in October, unchanged from the previous month and up 0.5 % from September.
The Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will seek to acquire a stake in Turkey's main stock exchange, the Borsa Istanbul, and collaborate on the development of a gold trading platform for use by majority-Muslim countries. The IDB said the move was part of wider efforts to develop Islamic finance in Turkey.
A newly formed group of dissident bondholders of Oi SA has hired private equity firm G5 Evercore to advise it in the Brazilian carrier's in-court reorganisation. Oi's BRL65.4bn reorganisation is one of the largest in the country's history.
In yet another blow to South Africa, the country's President Jacob Zuma will be questioned next week by the African National Congress' (ANC) integrity commission following multiple corruption allegations. The move signals further divisions within the party, and could further hurt the country's chances of retaining its credit rating. CDS spreads have widened by 4bp to 248bp since the news was revealed.
Inflation in Mexico has surpassed analyst expectations, hitting 3.29% in November - up from 3.15% the month before. The figures are the first to be released from the Mexican Central Bank since Donald Trump won the US election, an event that prompted the bank to pre-emptively hike rates to prop up the falling peso.
Argentina's economic activity shrank 3.7 percent in September from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday. It is the seventh straight month of contraction despite government promises of an investment-driven recovery.
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono signed a revised peace accord on Thursday, putting an end to 52 years of war in Latin America's fourth-largest economy. The original agreement was narrowly and unexpectedly defeated in the October referendum for being too lenient on the rebels. The latest deal will not be put to a referendum.
