Sales of short-term bonds swell 20.6 pct in 2021

SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) -- Sales of short-term corporate bonds in South Korea jumped more than 20 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Monday.

Local companies issued 1,243.7 trillion won (US$1.04 trillion) worth of short-term bonds, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

Short-term bonds refer to those that come due within one year, with the minimum amount of 100 million won or more per issue.

Sales of general short-term bonds jumped 22.9 on-year to 1,020.8 trillion won, and securitized bonds floated by special purpose companies and other firms gained 11.1 percent to 222.9 trillion won.

Sales of bonds maturing within three months stood at 1,238.7 trillion won, accounting for 99.6 percent of the total.

The issuance of short-term bonds with a rating of A1 amounted to 1,172.3 trillion won, taking up 94.3 percent of the aggregate.

Securities firms sold the largest amount of short-term bonds with 715 trillion won, followed by special purpose companies with 222.9 trillion won, according to the data.

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