The End Of Hegemony? Russian Bond Yields Plunge Below Pre-US Sanctions Levels

With Russian stocks among the best performing in 2016 – and up dramatically since The White House issued its “sell” rating…

It appears another key element of American’s hegemony is also breaking down. When the US (and its European vassal states) unleashed sanction on Russia in July 2014, it sent bond yields spiking from 9% to over 14% as political and social risks were priced in (as demanded by Treasury). However, despite the ongoing sanctions and the pressure (whether implicit or explicit from Washington) on oil prices, Russian bond yields have disobeyed America and are back below 9% – the lowest level of risk since before sanctions were imposed.

As Bloomberg reports, the political risk associated with Russian sanctions has disappeared from benchmark government bonds.

Yields on local-currency notes due in 10 years have fallen to 8.84 percent amid a recovery in oil and confidence the central bank is closer to meeting inflation targets.

That’s less than the 8.99 percent rate reached the day after the U.S. blocked some of the biggest state companies from capital markets in response to Moscow’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

With The Fed’s impotence on show for all to see, did The Treasury’s jawboning and Washington’s control over the world just lose its power?