Bond sales sink in July amid higher rate volatility

SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- Bond issuance in South Korea shrank in July from the previous month amid increasing interest rate volatility, industry data showed Wednesday.

The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 66 trillion won (US$50.4 billion) last month, down 4.9 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association.

Sales of corporate bonds declined by 1.5 trillion won to 6.4 trillion won in July, with those of state bonds and asset-backed securities dropping by 6.9 trillion won and 2 trillion won, respectively.

Yet the issuance of financial bonds and monetary stabilization bonds increased on-month, with sales of special bonds also going up.

There was a slight increase in the issuance of environment, social and governance bonds, which are a type of sustainability debt offering aimed at financing corporate activities in environmentally friendly and sustainable projects.

Foreign investors bought a net 5.8 trillion won worth of South Korean bonds in July, with their holdings of local bonds hitting an all-time high of 233.53 trillion won, up 4.6 trillion won from the prior month.

As of end-July, the value of outstanding bonds in the country stood at 2,580.1 trillion won, up 20.3 trillion won from the previous month.

(END)