Singapore, 25 April 2003 - The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today released the latest results of the 2002 Survey of the Singapore Corporate Debt Market.
Total outstanding corporate debt volume grew by 10% from S$80.8b in 2001 to S$89.2b in 2002.  In tandem with the global decline in corporate debt issuance and a slow economic environment, the total volume of new corporate debt issuance fell by 48% in Singapore in 2002.  Non-S$ denominated bonds accounted for about half of the corporate debt issuance volume in Singapore.  The total number of corporate debt issued increased from 1,450 issues in 2001 to 1,769 issues in 2002.

A positive development is the continued growth in the issuance of structured debt where the market also saw an increase in the diversity of the types of structured products.

Volume of S$ denominated bonds issued by foreign entities saw a strong 76% growth.  This was a record year in the volume of issuance and number of issues from foreign entities. 

The survey only reflects the Singapore Corporate Debt Market.  The Singapore Government Securities (SGS) market continued to grow in 2002. The outstanding amount of SGS increased by 8% to S$58.1b at end 2002.  The average daily volume for SGS was S$1.97b.  For repos, the average daily volume rose a significant 40% to S$2.51b in 2002.  More details on the growth of the SGS market can be found on the SGS web-page .

The full results of the 2002 Survey of the Singapore Corporate Debt Market are attached at Annex 1.

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