Doom loops in Latin America

Abstract

The post-COVID surge in public debt has intensified the financial interdependence between sovereigns and banks in emerging market economies, where domestic financial institutions have increasingly financed government borrowing. This paper examines the interaction between sovereign and banking sector risk through two complementary empirical strategies. First, using daily data from 2005 to 2023 for Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, we estimate risk spillovers between sovereign CDS spreads and bank stock returns at different points of the distribution. We find that spillovers are economically significant—particularly in the tails—and that two-way risk transmission persists regardless of banks' exposure to sovereign debt. Second, drawing on panel data for 111 banks across 30 countries, we study how changes in sovereign risk affect the downside market risk of banks, measured as the 5th percentile of their daily stock return distribution. Results from dynamic panel regressions reveal a strong and robust link between sovereign and bank downside risk, driven primarily by common macroeconomic shocks rather than by endogenous fragility loops. Notably, at low levels of market stress, moderate exposure to sovereign debt appears to reduce downside risk for banks. These findings underscore the importance of sound regulatory frameworks for sovereign exposure and credible fiscal policies in maintaining financial stability, particularly in emerging market contexts.