Determinants of Sovereign Eurobonds Yield Spread

We examine the determinants of sovereign Eurobond spread at issuance covering 1991-2000. The results of the regression models showed that yield spread increases with maturity, issue size and gross fees and decreases with credit rating and the number of managers. Higher-grade issuers also pay a relatively higher spread to borrow long-term funds and for smaller issues. The findings are consistent with the notion of a term structure 'liquidity premium.' Low-grade issuers pay a higher spread than better-rated countries. However, low-grade countries pay high spread for larger funds. Credit rating is found to provide additional information in explaining the spread on sovereign Eurobonds beyond that provided by macroeconomic variables. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2004.