The total amount raised through short-term bonds in South Korea for the third quarter of this year was recorded at 349.3 trillion won. This figure represents a 42.4% decrease from the previous quarter, but a 20.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
According to the Korea Securities Depository on October 14, the short-term bond issuance for the third quarter was 349.3 trillion won, up from 290.2 trillion won in the same quarter last year. However, it decreased from 606.8 trillion won in the previous quarter.
Short-term bonds are issued by companies that meet certain criteria, including a maturity of less than one year. They are processed electronically through a registration agency for issuance, circulation, and rights exercise. Introduced in 2013 to replace commercial paper and the call market, the name was changed from electronic short-term bonds to short-term bonds following the implementation of the electronic securities system in 2019.
By type, the issuance of general short-term bonds amounted to 249.7 trillion won, a 22.6% increase from the same period last year. Asset-backed short-term bonds totaled 99.6 trillion won, reflecting a 15.0% increase during the same timeframe. General short-term bonds accounted for 71.5% of the total issuance, while asset-backed short-term bonds made up 28.5%.
In terms of credit ratings, the issuance of A1-rated short-term bonds reached 326.6 trillion won, representing 93.5% of the total. This was a 19.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Issuance of bonds rated A2 or lower was 22.7 trillion won, up 26.8%, but only accounted for 6.5% of the total issuance.
Regarding maturity, bonds with maturities of 92 days or less totaled 348.8 trillion won, making up 99.9% of the total. Among these, bonds with maturities of 8 to 92 days amounted to 181.8 trillion won, 1-day bonds were 99.7 trillion won, and bonds with maturities of 2 to 7 days totaled 67.3 trillion won. Issuance for bonds with maturities of 93 to 365 days was only 5 trillion won, representing just 0.1% of the total. This indicates that the majority of short-term bond financing is concentrated in maturities of three months or less.
By sector, securities companies had the largest issuance at 130.5 trillion won, accounting for 37.4% of the total and increasing by 17.3% from the same period last year. Following them were asset-backed companies with 99.6 trillion won, other financial sectors such as credit card and capital companies with 63.6 trillion won, and general and public enterprises with 55.6 trillion won. The highest growth rate compared to the previous year was seen in general and public enterprises at 37.3%, followed by other financial sectors at 22.8% and asset-backed companies at 15.0%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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