New spare tires: local currency credit as a global shock absorber

Abstract

It is well-known that dollar credit to emerging market (EM) corporates has expanded dramatically in the past two decades. However, the concurrent expansion of local currency credit, facilitated by more developed domestic financial systems, has been less recognized. This paper first uses data on EM corporates’ borrowing through bonds and syndicated loans to show the considerable rise of their local currency debt. It then utilizes comprehensive firm-level data to document that EM corporates’ local currency borrowing can offset shocks to their dollar debt, and how this varies across firms and countries. A broad dollar appreciation is associated with a decline in credit to ‘’local’’ firms (smaller, non-exporting, with low profitability) but has no significant impact on ‘’global’’ firms (larger, exporting, highly profitable). Firms in the mid-range (of these dimensions) see lower dollar debt in response to a stronger dollar, but replace it with local currency debt, thus offsetting the shock.