One theme dominated the 14th Annual Euromoney Bond Investors Congress: that of sovereign debt. Off-stage Greece was very publicly wrestling with the refinancing of its huge stock of public sector debt; at the conference market participants struggled with the question of whether that battle presaged a wider crisis in government debt. “We are headed for disaster,” argued Liam Halligan, chief economist at Prosperity Capital Management and a long-time critic of the neo-Keynesian policies adopted by the UK government and other to deal with the economic crisis. Not all agreed. With a British Second World poster enjoining citizens to ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ on the screen behind him, Adam Posen argued that not to have acted to reflate economies would have meant catastrophe. Posen, a noted American academic who serves as an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee said the Bank would act to resume unconventional policies such as quantitative easing, if need be.
That opening panel set the tone for the conference, attended by over 300 bond buyers and others. On day two, the heads of borrowing for France, Germany, the UK, US and Japan gathered together to explain how they were going to raise the astonishing amounts of money that politicians had charged them with. While acknowledging that troubled times likely lay ahead, the debt management officials concurred that bond markets would be able to take the strain. The nature of those markets was a recurring sub-theme of the conference.

In a panel on bank reform Gillian Tett, associate editor of the Financial Times, argued that banks had only recently woken up to the weight of changes coming their way. But on just what those changes would be, few could agree. Greg Hands, Conservative shadow spokesman, said that any reform needed to be conducted in a co-ordinated manner across countries. That was a recipe for inaction, said others. This is an argument that will run through coming Euromoney conferences. We hope you will be there to join in.

Please click on the links below to view press interviews from the Bond Investors Congress 2010

Investors Focus on Sovereign Risk 
Emerging Market Debt
Emerging Markets to Deliver Growth
The Challenging Outlook for German Debt 
Risks Facing UK Gilts
Navigating the QE Unwind