LONDON: Bank of America’s favorite government bond trade in the Middle East and North Africa is to buy Tunisian external sovereign debt on the expectation that prices could rise if the nation agrees a program with the International Monetary Fund. Should a deal with the IMF be struck, the yield spread on Tunisia’s 25-year dollar bond could tighten toward where Egypt’s equivalent-maturity debt is currently trading, Ali Dhaloomal, a credit research analyst at Bank of America, wrote in a research report. “Even after the recent rally, we think spreads could narrow further on a successful IMF program agreement,” Dhaloomal wrote. “Authorities’ discussions with unions on reforms is positive, as well as the renewed engagement with the IMF scheduled for May.”