Guess Who’s Going To Default Next Month?

The answer may surprise you.

Could be worse!

Hint: It’s not the guy pictured at right, even though those talks continue to go not very well at all.

There’s a difference between missing a payment to bond investors, and to an official institution such as the IMF. Under the fund’s policy, countries that miss payments are deemed to be in “arrears.” The Washington-based lender plans to stick to that language, rather than using the term “default,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday.

Nope, it’s the Ukraine, which arguably has bigger things to worry about than paying its bills.

Ukraine could default on its debt obligations as soon as next month, according to Goldman Sachs, leaving international investors holding about $19 billion of the country’s bonds likely facing losses, or “haircuts.”

The U.S. bank says it thinks the most likely scenario is that Ukraine will not make the July 24 coupon payment on its bonds.

Goldman Says Ukraine To Default In July [WSJ MoneyBeat blog]
Greece Standoff Could Drag On Regardless of Deal [WSJ]
Why It Won’t Be a Default If Greece Misses IMF Payment Next Week [Bloomberg]


IMF: Ukraine Looking A Little Weak, Feeble

The last few months have really accentuated the MF in IMF.

Is Japan the Next Greece?
