Effects of the World Financial Crisis on Project Finance

Abstract

Recent actions by the rating agencies with regard to project finance reflect cautious optimism except in extreme cases such as Indonesia, where economic fundamentals have deteriorated and there is a questionable political will to honor contractual obligations. Credit erosion has been confined mainly to Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea. Except for falling commodity prices, the problems that began in Asia have affected Latin American projects only to a limited degree. Recent problems in Asia should draw investor attention to the danger of financing infrastructure projects with short-term debt and the danger of financing domestic projects with foreign-currency-denominated debt.