Seminarios

12
Mar

Leonardo Martinez (IMF Institute for Capacity Development)

Seminario “Sovereign Debt Standstills” (co-autores Leonardo Hatchondo, Cesar Sosa Padilla)

Abstract: As a response to economic crises triggered by COVID-19, sovereign debt standstill proposals emphasize debt payment suspensions without haircuts on the face value of debt obligations. We quantify the effects of standstills using a standard default model. We find that a one-year standstill generates welfare gains for the sovereign equivalent to a permanent consumption increase of between 0.1% and 0.3%, depending on the initial shock. However, except when it avoids a default, the standstill also implies capital losses for creditors of between 9% and 27%, which is consistent with their reluctance to participate in these operations and indicates that this reluctance would persist even without a free-riding or holdout problem. Standstills also generate a form of "debt overhang" and thus the opportunity for a "voluntary debt exchange": complementing the standstill with haircuts could reduce creditors' losses and simultaneously increase welfare gains. Our results cast doubts on the emphasis on standstills without haircuts.

Ingresa al seminario AQUÍ

Datos del Seminario

Fecha de inicio:
12 de Marzo, 2021 | 12:00 hrs.

Fecha de término
12 de Marzo, 2021 | 13:00 hrs.