Chavez Ally’s Once-in-Century Debt Exposes Neglect: Andes Credit
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Bolivia’s first international bond sale in almost a century is turning into a cautionary tale for fixed-income investors trying to bolster returns with the riskiest emerging-market debt.
The nation’s dollar notes due in 2022 have returned 1.6 percent since being issued in October, less than half the 4.2 percent gain for junk-rated sovereign debt in developing nations. Among countries rated BB- by Standard & Poor’s, yields on Bolivia’s notes have fallen 0.11 percentage point, versus a decline of 1.12 percentage points on Serbian bonds and a 0.5 percentage-point drop for Ukrainian debt.