A little sinning would do no harm

Borrowing in foreign currency has been at the root of virtually every major EM sovereign debt crisis, which is why it gets called the “original sin” of emerging economies. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the finance ministry’s plans to issue a debut FX bond this year has been met with criticism this week. But provided FX borrowing remains contained, the government can reap some of the benefits without much risk of running into debt problems.