FT: Sovereign defaults unlikely

...Moody’s adds that worries that one of these countries may be forced to restructure or default has centred on their rising debt burdens. However, this is neither a necessary or sufficient condition for a sovereign default, the agency says.

The past 20 defaulters have also had high foreign currency exposure, an average of 76 per cent of total debt was in foreign currency before the default.

In the case of Greece, Portugal and Ireland, their debt is almost entirely in euros, their domestic currency, although a majority of their bonds are held by institutions in other eurozone countries.