Ukraine Riots Flash Buy Signal to Foreigners for Bonds
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As Ukrainians took to the streets of Kiev on Nov. 22 to protest a government decision to break off European Union trade talks, foreign investors piled into local-currency bonds. As protests raged on, they kept buying.
Non-resident investors boosted their holdings of hryvnia sovereign debt by 55 percent within 24 hours on Nov. 22 to 6.73 billion hryvnia ($812 million), as the government faced a backlash for deciding to focus on ties with Russia. Foreign holdings of Ukrainian debt then jumped to 9.37 billion hryvnia yesterday, the most since April 2011, data on the central bank’s website show. The nation’s 2014 dollar notes gained today on speculation the country will sign a trade deal with Russia.