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| ▲ An illustrated image of government bonds (Yonhap) |
bond issuance-May tally
S. Korea's bond issuance up in May
SEOUL, June 9 (Yonhap) -- Overall bond issuance increased in South Korea last month, but issuance of corporate bonds decreased on high interest rates, data showed Friday.
South Korea issued a total of 97.7 trillion won (US$75.4 billion) worth of bonds in May, up 21 trillion won from the previous month, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association (KFIA).
The outstanding bonds totaled at 2.7 quadrillion won as of end-May as issuance of government bonds, special bonds, monetary stabilization bonds and financial bonds jumped 37 trillion won.
But corporate bonds decreased by 2 trillion won on-month to 7.6 trillion won due to the higher bond interest rate.
The KFIA said the bond interest rate went down early last month due to expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve easing its monetary policy, but rebounded later in the month amid hints the Fed may go for additional hikes.
By corporate bond grade, AAA bonds fell 800 billion won, with AA bonds and A bonds dropping 700 billion won and 900 billion won, respectively.
Demand forecasting for corporate bonds reached 2.5 trillion won, up 305 billion won from a month ago.
According to the data, 389.9 trillion won worth of bonds were traded over the counter in May, up 18.1 trillion won on-month.
Meanwhile, individual investors net purchased 3.1 trillion won worth of government bonds, financial bonds and corporate bonds, while foreign investors bought 17.4 trillion worth of bonds, including 11.5 trillion won of government bonds and 5.3 trillion won of monetary stabilization bonds.
As of the end of last month, foreigners possessed a total of 238.7 trillion won, up 11.9 trillion won on-month.
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