Can bad news about COVID-19 induce negative expectations on sovereign credit risks? We investigate the factors driving credit default swap (CDS) spreads of emerging market sovereigns around the outbreak of COVID-19. Using 2014-2019 data, we estimate a two-factor model of global and regional...

Bond portfolio outflows from emerging market economies (EMEs) are typically associated with currency depreciation and rising domestic long-term interest rates. This relationship asserted itself in a particularly stark way during the Covid-19 crisis in mid-March 2020. The impact of bond portfolio...