CREDIT RATIONING AND MACROECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT IN LATIN-AMERICA

This research attempts to provide an answer to the important question of whether sovereign borrowers of developing countries are credit rationed in international capital markets. After defining the type of credit rationing to be tested an econometric technique is developed and tested with the results casting doubt on the extent of credit rationing for 12 of 13 Latin American developing countries over the sample period 1965-1988. The test is limited in that it will not detect credible threats of credit rationing followed by macroeconomic adjustments to bring about an equality of domestic investment and national savings. This form of ex ante credit rationing could still be pervasive. Nevertheless it would appear that on the whole, Latin American countries are quickly able to adjust to anticipated shocks by a combination of policies to reduce the investment-savings gap.