Analysts say fiscal risk, approaching end of the tightening cycle will stir interest rate curve
06/09/2022
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Luiz Armando Sedrani — Foto: Divulgação
Even though they are at the highest level this year, long-term interest rates may not find so much support ahead for a stronger withdrawal of risk premiums. The market is already starting to see the end of the monetary tightening cycle over the coming months and, even though some agents see this event as important to unburden the market, the scenario for long-term rates is not very favorable, because fiscal and political risks continue to rise, at the same time as the Treasuries continue to go up.
The bets of the agents, therefore, have been concentrated on the steepening of the yield curve, that is, on a wider spread between long-term and short-term interest rates. At the moment, the spread between long and short rates is negative — in market jargon, the yield curve is inverted. On Wednesday, the difference between five- and ten-year interest rates was -0.635 points. In the view of market analysts, this difference tends to widen after the end of the monetary tightening cycle. This bet indicates the possibility of short interest rates falling significantly, or even the chance of long rates rising further.
“All the paths lead to a greater slope of the yield curve,” said Mauricio Oreng, head of macroeconomic research at Santander. He listed the factors that point to this scenario: the monetary tightening process in advanced economies, which has generated doubts about the natural level of interest rates; the inflation peak; the nearby end of Brazil’s benchmark interest rates Selic hike cycle; and the fiscal risks, which remain on the radar.
As for the international scenario, Mr. Oreng notes that international interest rates usually have an influence, especially on long-term rates. “We have this tightening scenario that may be faster than in other cycles for several central banks in developed countries and there is doubt whether in the future, when the cycle is over, interest rates will be at higher levels,” he said.
“The doubt is what the natural level of global interest rates will be in the future. Did we have an increase after all those inflationary impacts in the post-Covid, worsening of production chains, geopolitical tensions? It is a question mark that can bring the view that the natural interest rate in Brazil may have risen additionally,” Mr. Oreng said. He notes that, with the increase in fiscal risk during the pandemic, Brazil’s neutral interest rate rose to around 4% in real terms, in Santander’s calculations, and adds that it may be that the neutral interest rate will rise even more, depending on the global neutral interest rate.
As for domestic factors, fiscal risk is one of the issues that have often put pressure on long-term interest rates. In the last few days, the discussions about the sales ICMS tax and other tax cuts proposed by the federal government to contain fuel prices generated a strong rise in long-term rates, which reached their highest levels since October 2021. On Wednesday, the DI rate for January 2027 rose to 12.605% from 12.57%.
Besides the fiscal issues, one main factor cited by market analysts for betting on the steepening of the yield curve is the proximity of the end of the monetary tightening cycle. As soon as the Central Bank indicates that it has ended the process of raising interest rates, the market will start to include in the price of assets when the inverse movement will happen, which can generate a predisposition of the market to bet on the fall of shorter-term interest rates.
The CIO of BV Asset, Luiz Armando Sedrani, highlights the fact that Brazil is one of the few countries, among the world’s main economies, whose interest rate is already above current inflation levels, which can be translated into an advanced stage of the monetary tightening cycle.
According to him, global inflation caused by commodities may start to lose traction from now on. Moreover, when inflationary pressures more linked to economic activity in Brazil begin to give way, the disinflation movement may be faster than expected by financial agents. “This way, we have a preference for bets that benefit from the steepness of the yield curve. On the one hand, we believe that the Central Bank may cut rates sooner than expected. And, on the other hand, the increase in political risk also benefits the strategy,” states Mr. Sedrani.
In the context of better-than-expected fiscal results, the executive believes that it seems to be difficult to contain the government’s impetus to expand spending, especially in an election year. “We believe there will be pressure for more spending and the government will try to stimulate the economy. This concerns us, it has an impact on the yield curve, and so our bets are on steepening,” he argues.
Legacy Capital is another asset management company likely to increase positions that benefit from a greater spread between long and short interest rates, in view of the proximity of the end of Selic peak. “Whenever the cycle of interest rate hikes has been interrupted, the curve has steepened. For different reasons, but the slope always increases,” said Gustavo Pessoa, partner and manager of Legacy.
Legacy follows this process in Brazil and other countries, and it “has never failed,” Mr. Pessoa said. Thus, the firm maintains this position in the portfolio. “The difficulty is to understand when the cycle will be over. When the movement [of increasing the slope of the yield curve] happens, it tends to be abrupt and powerful,” he said.
Fernando Fenolio, the chief economist at WHG, evaluates that the bets on a wider spread between long and short interest rates are based on the view that the actions of the Central Bank are likely to influence short rates, while the fiscal risk can keep the long-term interest rate under pressure.
“If the Central Bank stops raising interest rates at the next meeting, in a scenario of high inflation and deteriorating expectations, the yield curve could steepen considerably with an inflation premium. It would mean a market reading that it [the monetary authority] would be interrupting the cycle at a moment when the work is not yet finished,” Mr. Fenolio said.
On the other hand, if the monetary authority ends the tightening cycle at a moment of cooling of current inflation and expectations, the inclination of the curve could occur at a lower magnitude. “In this case, the market would begin to project the interest rate cut cycle,” the economist said.
“But the premium for the fiscal situation could well dominate the steepening. In a more extreme scenario, if the fiscal risk rises too much, we could even see a need for the Central Bank to raise interest rates again and the curve to flatten again,” Mr. Fenolio said. He, however, stressed that this is not WHG’s baseline scenario.
By Victor Rezende, Gabriel Roca — São Paulo
Source: Valor International