S'pore debt market posted sharp growth in 2000

S'pore debt market posted sharp growth in 2000

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore's debt market leaped 159 percent last year to S$50.5 billion (US$29 billion), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) figures released Tuesday showed.

The $31 billion rise from $19.5 billion in 1999 was the sharpest growth since the annual survey was started in 1995, the de facto central bank said.

MAS said the survey showed "the strong interest in the Singapore corporate debt market in recent years has not let up, and has in fact, been growing from strength-to-strength."

The 2000 Survey of the Singapore Corporate Debt Market showed the number of corporate debt issues rose to 807 from 497 in 1999.

Non-Singapore dollar denominated bonds dominated the corporate debt issues, with 435 issues worth $36.1 billion last year compared with 372 issues of Singapore dollar denominated bonds valued at $14.4 billion.

Sourcing for funds from the debt market was becoming popular here, the survey showed.

Apart from property companies, which have regularly been active in the debt market, last year saw a high number of issues from corporates in the engineering, logistics, transportation and food sectors.