The forgotten lender: the role of multilateral lenders in sovereign debt and default

Abstract

The role of multilateral lenders in sovereign default has been traditionally overlooked by the literature. However, these creditors represent a significant share of lending to emerging markets and feature very distinct characteristics, such as lower interest rates and seniority. By including these creditors in a traditional DSGE model of sovereign default, I reproduce the high debt levels found in the data while maintaining default probabilities within realistic values. Additionally, I am able to analyze the role of multilateral debt in emerging economies. Multilateral loans complement private financing and reduce the incompleteness of international financial markets. Also, multilateral funding acts as an insurance mechanism in bad times, providing countries with some degree of consumption smoothing, opposite to the role of front-loading consumption fulfilled by private financing.