Surging inflation and sharply higher borrowing costs in the US and Europe threaten to push indebted emerging market and developing economies into further financial distress, a top IMF official has warned.
Almost a quarter of emerging market countries that have issued “hard currency” debt have bonds now trading in distressed territory, with spreads more than 1,000 basis points above US Treasuries, according to the multilateral lender.
Borrowers around the world have taken advantage of aggressive monetary easing by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank and issued dollar- and euro-denominated debt at ultra-low rates. But borrowing has become more expensive as central banks seek to tackle price pressures with tighter monetary policy.