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Dash for dollars

Author

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  • Cesa-Bianchi, Ambrogio

    (Bank of England)

  • Eguren-Martin, Fernando

    (Bank of England)

Abstract

Within-firm variation of corporate bond spreads around the Covid-19 outbreak shows that US dollar-denominated bonds experienced larger increases in spreads relative to non-dollar bonds, especially at short maturities. Differently, in the non-dollar sample it was the spreads of longer maturity bonds that widened more markedly. Price pressures arising from a liquidity-driven dash for cash alone cannot rationalize these findings. Instead, the patterns we uncover suggest a ‘dash for dollars’, in which investors sold their dollar-denominated assets first, with a consequent impact on prices. We link these dynamics to the dominant role of the US dollar in the international financial system.

Suggested Citation

  • Cesa-Bianchi, Ambrogio & Eguren-Martin, Fernando, 2021. "Dash for dollars," Bank of England working papers 932, Bank of England.
    • Handle: RePEc:boe:boeewp:0932
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    Cited by:

    1. Engel, Charles & Bianchi, Javier & Bigio, Saki, 2021. "Scrambling for Dollars: International Liquidity, Banks and Exchange Rates," CEPR Discussion Papers 16712, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Zakrajsek, Egon & Gilchrist, Simon & Wei, Bin & Yue, Vivian, 2020. "The Fed Takes on Corporate Credit Risk: An Analysis of the Efficacy of the SMCCF," CEPR Discussion Papers 15258, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heterogeneity; credit spreads; liquidity; dash-for-cash; US dollar; Covid-19; event-study; identification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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