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Implications of Turkish crisis as Trump and Erdogan trade salvos

Publication Date: 15 Aug 2018 - By Adrian Schmidt By Adrian S.

FX & Rates Macro FX EU Other UK

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This month global markets are mostly concerned with Turkey, with the sharp fall in the currency the main driver of concerns about deteriorating credit quality due to large net external liabilities. The degree to which foreign currency debt of Turkish entities is currency hedged is unclear, but is key for determining their solvency. Other than the weakness of the currency, the economic situation is in any case vulnerable, but has been for some time.

But from a baseline of vulnerable, conditions have deteriorated steadily in the last year or two, with inflation rising and the current account deficit widening, in part because the central bank has not been allowed to make the rate rises required to stem these trends. This political aspect of the problem makes it much more intractable, especially when you throw in the US pastor detained by Turkey for over two years and the aggressive tariff response from President Donald Trump.

It is hard to see the endgame at this stage. Funding the current account deficit will remain very difficult as long as there is no action. Even significant interest rate rises may not help much at this stage. Capital controls may come in, and there are risks of default on external debt. However, most of the risk is not government debt, as in previous crises, but corporate debt. This makes a bailout unlikely and difficult, but also probably reduces contagion risks. While there is significant exposure to Turkish debt among European banks, it is not game changing – even the most exposed banks would survive the worst case scenario as long as the problems remain isolated to Turkey.

Which leads to the main question - one of contagion. Most commentators argue that this is the primary risk, citing parallels with previous emerging market (EM) crises, notably in Asia in 1997. And they are right, because markets are never entirely predictable, and if appetite for risk disappears what currently appears a perfectly solid investment can quickly become vulnerable. (Almost) everyone needs to raise money, and in such circumstances even perfectly solvent entities can struggle to refinance if markets suddenly become unprepared to fund. As Hamlet says “there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so”, and shocks like Turkey can lead to some pretty muddled thinking.

Nevertheless, we doubt that the Turkish situation will lead to a big global meltdown in EM, or a renewal of the Eurozone crisis. Even worst case scenarios should remain contained.  While we may have a period of pressure on some EM currencies and higher EM yields, in the end the global economy is starting from a position of reasonable health driven by good US growth and improving Eurozone growth, combined with a generally more solid global banking system.

There are savings looking to be deployed towards higher yielding assets in a world of still very low yields. There are no certainties, but this episode looks likely to present an opportunity to buy risky assets. Of course, care is required, as especially in August things can go a lot further than we would expect before turning. Things that look cheap may yet get a lot cheaper, so technical signals that the market has completed its rout need to be awaited.

Opportunities created by Turkish crisis

The obvious opportunities are the emerging markets that have suffered in sympathy with the Turkish Lira. The ZAR, BRL, and even MXN have all weakened, and there may well be value there. But getting these right requires good timing and a clarity that the crisis is over. In these situations it is often better from a risk/reward standpoint to consider the less obvious collateral damage. In the G10 space the two currencies that have suffered the most since early August are the NZD and SEK. The NZD is understandable as it can be considered the closest thing to an emerging market in the G10 space.

But the SEK? Sweden has a current account surplus, very low interest rates and inflation, the strongest growth in Europe and a very secure budget and banking system. It is no-one’s idea of an emerging market. Nevertheless, the SEK does tend to exhibit characteristics of a risk positive currency. This is in part a historic issue harking back to the days when Ericsson made up 30% of the value of the Swedish equity market and it was strongly identified with the tech boom and bubble.

But nowadays, while still showing one of the strongest growth rates in the EU, there is no particular dependence on tech. Both EUR/SEK and USD/SEK have risen to levels that have to be considered excellent longer term value regardless of which way the Turkish crisis is resolved, but GBP/SEK may represent the best trade, given the risks involved in the run up to the Conservative Party conference and the October EU Summit.

With the UK parliament on holiday, there have been no significant developments in the last couple of weeks, but there has been more and more noise suggesting that the risk of a “no deal” Brexit is increasing. The main upcoming events are the UK Conservative Party conference from September 30 to October 3 and the EU Summit on October 18/19. Neither looks likely to provide any real progress on Brexit, and the prospect of "no deal" will consequently become even more probable, at least as far markets are concerned.

There are several reasons for the lack of progress, but the two main ones are the lack of any majority in the UK parliament for ANY Brexit plan, and the perception on both sides that the threat of "no deal" - and the brinkmanship involved in that - is necessary in order to get the "best" deal for their side. It may be that an apparent increase in the probability of "no deal" is actually a necessary condition for a deal to be done, but the process will nevertheless have continued market impact.

For what it’s worth, we believe that a free trade deal of some sort is the most likely eventual outcome in the Brexit process. Probably the best reason for this is Ireland. “No deal” would require a hard border, and that is anathema to both sides as well as effectively contravening the Good Friday agreement. But that doesn’t matter right now because it isn’t the most likely next step. More stress is required to produce that outcome.

From a trading perspective, the battleground is GBP. We look to play this from the short side not only because the next events look likely to be GBP negative, but because GBP is starting from a position which we regard as barely below fair value. The current price does not adequately reflect the risks of Brexit.

GBP/SEK looks an attractive vehicle to express GBP weakness here.

Disclosure:

I have positions in the securities referenced in the contribution

I do not use any non-public, material information in this contribution

To the best of my knowledge, the views expressed in this contribution comply with UK law

I agree with the terms and conditions of ReachX

This contribution is for informational purpose and does not constitute investment advice nor is it an offer to sell or buy, nor is it a recommendation for any security.

Adrian S.

 

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