Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Borrow In Dollars, Pay In Tears

We've said ad nauseum*:
It is very dangerous to borrow in a currency other than the one in which you earn your income.
 
From Bloomberg:
Major Chinese Developer Says It Can’t Pay Dollar Debts
Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. became China’s first real estate company to default on its U.S. currency debt, capping a month of distress in bond markets amid an anti-corruption probe and fueling concern that losses will spread.

The default coincides with the expiration of a 30-day grace period on $52 million of missed interest payments on two dollar-denominated bonds, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange statement Monday. Kaisa, based in the southern city of Shenzhen, is struggling to service 65 billion yuan ($10.5 billion) of debt owed to both onshore and offshore lenders while becoming embroiled in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on graft....MORE

If lenders don't trust you in your own currency they sure won't accommodate your FX flings.
*Evans-Pritchard: "Dollar surge endangers global debt edifice, warns BIS"
"The Swiss franc appreciation and the sorry saga of FX lending"
'Russian ruble's fall: A classic 'currency collapse'" and Why It's Such a Big Deal
Remember When the BIS Was Warning That A Strong Dollar Would Wreck Everything?