SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate bond sale almost halved last month due to higher interest rates and lingering worries about credit crunch, financial watchdog data showed Thursday.

The issuance of corporate bonds amounted to 8.3 trillion won (6.1 billion U.S. dollars) in October, down 49.5 percent from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The sharp slide was driven by rapid interest rate hikes. The country's central bank has hiked its key rate since August last year from a record low of 0.5 percent to 3.25 percent.

Concerns lingered over credit crunch following the belated pledge to repay bonds, sold by a local insurer and a local government-backed real estate developer.

Bonds, sold by financial companies, dropped 54.7 percent from a month earlier to 6 trillion won (4.4 billion dollars) in October, while industrial companies-issued bonds gained 21.7 percent to 1.39 trillion won (1 billion dollars).

The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) tumbled 55.9 percent to 911.2 billion won (673.7 million dollars).

Equity financing, including initial public offering (IPO) and rights issuance, stood at 487.5 billion won (360.4 million dollars) in October, down 36.1 percent from the previous month. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)