I solve a sovereign debt model with exceptional spending shocks. Positive debt is sustained solely by the threat of losing access to borrowing. The key assumption is that rapid asset sales used to fund exceptionally large government expenditures entail liquidity costs, giving a comparative advantage to more liquid sovereign bond issuance. The paper also provides a novel mechanism by which less patient governments can borrow more debt. This liquidity friction positively interacts with other standard debt-sustaining mechanisms. [..]