Corporate direct financing down in 2022 on stock, bond market slumps

SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- Corporate direct financing in South Korea shrank in 2022 due to slumps in stock and bond markets caused by worries over inflation and rising borrowing costs, data showed Wednesday.

Local companies raised a combined 204.57 trillion won (US$165.9 billion) last year by selling stocks and bonds, down 11.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks or other financial institutions.

The decline is blamed on slumps in equity and fixed-income markets affected by monetary tightening in major economies to bring inflation down and growing worries over an economic slowdown.

Money raised through sale of shares came to 21.94 trillion won last year, down 24.6 percent from a year earlier. Corporate bond sales shrank 9.8 percent on-year to 182.63 trillion won in 2022, the data showed.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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