Japonica’s Kazarian says Greek spreads will match Italy’s and Spain’s
Paul B. Kazarian, the founder and chief executive of investment firm Japonica, which a few days ago announced the completion of the Greek bond buyback program, has taken on the role of advertising the successes of the Greek economy.
Kazarian told Kathimerini that Japonica cannot substitute the Greek government or operate on its behalf, but “it is easier for us to communicate the successes of the Greek economy.” He went on to forecast that in early 2014, the spreads of Greek bonds will be on a par or even better than those of Italy and Spain, and two points worse than France’s.
Still, Kazarian did not rule out exchanging Greek bonds for a state asset up for privatization, but would not reveal the value of the Greek bonds he now possesses. He noted that “we may be the biggest investors after the Greek social security funds.” However, the word in the market is that the fact he will not reveal the amount of the bond bought back is a sign he may not have acquired as large a share of Greek bonds as he claims to have done.
