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Debauchery and Original Sin: The Currency Composition of Sovereign Debt

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  • Charles Engel
  • JungJae Park
Abstract
We present a model that accounts for the “mystery of original sin” and the surge in local-currency borrowing by emerging economies in the recent decade. We quantitatively investigate the currency composition of sovereign debt in the presence of two types of limited enforcement frictions arising from a government's monetary and debt policy: strategic currency debasement and default on sovereign debt. Local-currency debt obligations act as a better consumption hedge against income shocks than foreign-currency debt because their real value can be affected by monetary policy. However, this provides a government with more temptation to deviate from disciplined monetary policy, thus restricting borrowing in local currency more than in foreign currency. Our model predicts that a country with a less credible monetary policy borrows mainly in foreign currency as a substitute for monetary credibility. An important extension demonstrates that in the presence of an expectational Phillips curve, local-currency debt improves the ability of monetary policymakers to commit.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Engel & JungJae Park, 2022. "Debauchery and Original Sin: The Currency Composition of Sovereign Debt," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 1095-1144.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:20:y:2022:i:3:p:1095-1144.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvac009
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems

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