S. Korea’s corporate bond sales fall 1.9% in August ’24

South Korea’s corporate bond issuance dropped 1.9 per cent to 19.72 trillion won ($15.1 billion) in August 2024 due to reduced funding demand from industrial firms, according to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Industrial company bonds fell 56.1 per cent to 1.40 trillion won in August. In contrast, financial company bonds increased 3.0 per cent to 16.83 trillion won, and asset-backed securities issuance more than doubled to 1.49 trillion won.

The central bank kept the benchmark interest rate at 3.50 per cent since January 2023. Equity financing, including IPOs and rights issuance, totalled 383.7 billion won ($287.4 million) in August, a 74.6 percent decrease from the previous month.

Attribution: Xinhua

Subediting: M. S. Salama