Singapore corporate debt issuance up 39% last year
The corporate debt market grew strongly last year on the back of a strengthening economy.
Total debt issuance rose 39 per cent to $259 billion last year, up from $186 billion in 2016, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) data showed yesterday.
Expansion came on two fronts: Singdollar (SGD) debt securities rose 30 per cent while non-SGD-denominated securities were up 40 per cent.
SGD debt securities hit a five-year high of $27 billion, catalysed by strong investor sentiment and issuers seeking to secure longer-term funding ahead of expected interest rate increases, MAS said.
The debt market also continued to support issuers' funding needs in foreign currencies.
Companies raised funding in multiple currencies, including the US dollar, euro, British pound and other Asian currencies.
Non-SGD debt issuance accounted for 89.4 per cent, or $232 billion of total debt issuance last year, broadly in line with 2016.
Repeat issuance also drove up turnover and contributed to more than 80 per cent of total issuance volume last year.
The number of repeat issuers rose to 103, from 85 in 2016.
Meanwhile, volumes from first-time issuance nearly tripled to $27.4 billion, up from $10.2 billion in 2016.
The number of first-time issuers rose to 63, from 37 in 2016, reversing a declining trend.
Many of these first-time issuers from Australia, China, India and Asean came through the Asian Bond Grant Scheme, MAS said. It launched the scheme in January last year to encourage the issuance of bonds by first-time Asian companies in Singapore.
The initiative supports up to 50 per cent of typical issuance-related expenses, subject to a cap of $400,000 for rated issuance, and $200,000 for unrated ones. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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