Limited Participation and Local Currency Sovereign Debt
71 Pages Posted: 31 May 2017 Last revised: 31 Jan 2019
Date Written: November 15, 2018
Abstract
Governments in emerging countries are increasingly issuing bonds in local currencies and foreign holdings of these bonds have been growing significantly. Motivated by these novel facts, we build a model where local (foreign) investors specialize in local (foreign) currency bonds. After paying a fee, foreign investors can also buy local currency bonds. Based on recent low U.S. interest rates, the model predicts the documented increase in foreign holdings and correlation between local and foreign currency bond returns, and spillovers of foreign shocks to local markets. Higher expected future U.S. interest rates imply sharp reductions in foreign holdings.
Keywords: local currency, emerging countries, limited arbitrage, market segmentation
JEL Classification: E43, G12, F31, G11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation