JRL NEWSWATCH “Russia ramps up bond sales ahead of possible U.S. sanctions; Moscow’s $1.1bn issuance comes after April fundraising smashed records” – Financial Times/ Max Seddon, Nikou Asgari
“… [Russia’s] finance ministry sold Rbs73bn ($1.1bn) in rouble-denominated bonds … Wednesday[,] … part of a plan to raise Rbs600bn in domestic debt this quarter. … [after] a record Rbs400bn in April – four times [Russia’s] monthly average – feeding strong investor appetite for high-yielding emerging market debt. …
[Analysts regard the efforts] as a pre-emptive stockpiling … [against] the threat of further punitive measures from Washington …. [O]il [is] trading at about $70 a barrel … ahead of [a] government[] assumption of $40 … [resulting in] Russia[‘s] … largest budget surplus in a decade at 2.2 [% GDP] …. [However there are] fears [of] new U.S. sanctions …. In February … U.S. senators introduced … the [bipartisan] Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2019 … DASKA – that would prevent U.S. investors from buying or dealing in Russian sovereign debt. … [termed] the ‘sanctions bill from hell.’ [by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham] …”