Emerging market corporations have significantly increased their borrowing in international markets since 2008. This paper shows that this increase was driven by large-denomination bond issuances, most of them with face value of US$500 million.
... See More + Large issuances are eligible for inclusion in international market indexes, which attract institutional investors. Emerging market firms were able to cut their cost of funds by roughly 100 basis points by issuing large-denomination bonds. Firms face a tradeoff: issue large, index-eligible bonds to borrow at a lower cost (about 100 basis points) but pay the expense of hoarding cash. Because of the "size yield discount," many companies issued index-eligible bonds, increasing their cash holdings. The willingness to issue large bonds and hoard cash was greater for firms in countries with high carry trade opportunities. These post-2008 behaviors reflected a search for yield by institutional investors into higher-risk securities and are not apparent in developed economies.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8890 JUN 17, 2019
This paper is part of a series of four Urban Policy Notes that provide a critical review on emergent challenges to Bhutan’s increasing urbanization and its ramifications for growth, livability and sustainability in line with the directives of the 12th Five-Year Plan (FYP) and the Vision 2020.
... See More + The four notes are: (a) Regional Development, (b) Municipal Governance and Finance, (c) Affordable Housing and (d) Urban Resilience. These notes build on the long engagement between the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) and the World Bank on urban issues as well as the experiences of urban operations under Bhutan Urban Development Projects I (1999-2006) and II (2010-2019) and are intended to support the RGoB on key and emerging urban topics and guide Bank’s future analytical and investment support in the urban sector.
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This report provides an analysis of Cape Town’s residential property market in terms of its size and value, activity, and performance. Market size, value and activity are status quo analyses, setting out the shape and dynamics of Cape Town’s property market.
... See More + Market performance then considers these dynamics against specific performance objectives. Following this introduction, Section two provides the analytical framework for looking the market. It considers the role of the housing asset, how property market filtering happens, and how the housing market can be segmented to develop appropriate responses that are relevant to all of the City’s residents. In section three, the size and value of Cape Town’s residential property market is set out, together with an analysis of current activity in terms of supply of new housing, the resale market, lending and house prices. Section four then considers the actual performance of Cape Town’s property market and whether it is responding to the City’s goals for affordable and accessible housing, economic transformation and inclusive growth, and sustainable human settlements. The report then considers how responsive the market is to the demand pressures that exist and looks in some detail at performance in the Voortrekker Corridor and the Metro South-East Integration Zone. In section five, Cape Town’s property market is compared with those in the other major metros in South Africa. Section six concludes with considerations towards the realization of an inclusive residential property market in the city. The methodology for the analysis is summarized in section seven.
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This report provides preliminary findings of a consultancy about the perceived need for finance linked demand-side household subsidies to expand urban homeownership in South Africa for theincome group between R3,500 and R15,000/month (often referred to as the ‘affordable market’) and the current hindrances to their implementation.
... See More + The main question the consultancy sought to answer was whether a well-designed demand-side subsidy can work to expand the affordable housing market in South Africa. Our analysis suggests that there is capacity and an interest in this market segment in the private sector, and that a demand-side subsidy linked to credit is considered a critical requirement to open up this market. It also suggests that current inefficiencies in the affordable housing market can and should be addressed by better policies and regulations before a demand-side subsidy can be effective (e.g. more efficient and less costly housing standards and permitting procedures, improved infrastructure systems, and improved financial sector regulations and systems to mitigate risks and costs of lending for the affordable market). Such agenda will require comprehensive policy and regulatory reforms that go beyond the demand-side subsidy itself. It will also require a robust administrative and operational system for subsidy implementation. Different parts of such agenda are already being discussed.
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The development objective of the Affordable Housing Finance Project is to expand access to affordable housing finance to targeted beneficiaries.
... See More + There is one component to the project, support to the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company (KMRC). This component will support the establishment, capitalization and operationalization of KMRC. KMRC is modelled after other mortgage refinance companies supported by the WBG (e.g. in West Africa, Tanzania, Pakistan), but its distinctive feature will be to serve SACCOs and microfinance banks as well as commercial banks. KMRC will be a majority-private company supervised by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), and by the Capital Market Authority for its bond issuances. Annex five summarizes KMRC business and operationalization plan. KMRC will contribute to developing the mortgage and housing finance markets. Key benefits include: (i) provision of long-term funds so that lenders can match their assets and liabilities; (ii) better affordability of mortgage loans as financial institutions extend the maturity of their loans; (iii) creation of a safety net to the financial system as banks and SACCOs know they have a source of liquidity when they need it, which incentivizes them to produce long-term loans; (iv) enhanced competition, by removing long-term funding as a barrier to entry in the mortgage market (especially relevant for SACCOs); and (v) deepening of the private bond market as KMRC becomes a regular issuer.
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This paper reviews the design of private pensions alongside a notional defined contribution (NDC) – or public – component. A mix of public and private pensions is the bestway to deliver a strong combination of five core outcomes: coverage, adequacy,sustainability, efficiency, and security.
... See More + Choices for market structure, benefit type,contributions, and investment strategy can be guided by their impact on these outcomes.The clarity of an NDC formula allows the joint distribution of public and private pensions tobe modeled which can be crucial for optimal investment strategies given, for example, thenegative correlation between real per capita gross domestic product growth and equity markets over long periods. NDC payout formulas have broad applications where annuity markets are weak.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 136538 APR 01, 2019
