Singapore new corporate debt issuance up 34% to S$308 billion in 2024
[SINGAPORE] The corporate debt market saw robust growth in 2024, with new debt issuances rising 34 per cent year on year to S$308 billion.
This comprises new issuances for short-term and long-term Singapore dollar and non-Singapore dollar debt, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) Corporate Debt Market Development Report 2025.
The report, published on Thursday (Aug 7), showed that in 2024, issuance volumes in Singapore – for long-term total Singdollar and non-Singdollar bonds – hit US$75 billion, 15 per cent higher than the average issuance volumes in the past five years.
Excluding a large multi-tranche issuance that resulted in a record issuance volume in 2023, Singapore’s bond issuance grew 67.1 per cent year on year in 2024, MAS said.
This comes as global bond issuance volume rose to US$9.1 trillion in 2024, amid interest rate cuts which lowered borrowing costs and encouraged issuers to capitalise on more favourable financing conditions.
Financial institutions (FIs) remained the leading debt issuers across both Singdollar and non-Singdollar bonds in 2024.
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Total outstanding debt arranged by FIs in Singapore rose 9 per cent year on year, to S$617 billion.
FIs drove issuances in the non-Singdollar market, with their share increasing 23.7 per cent and issuance volumes rising S$92 billion in 2024, due to the need to fund growth in their asset books.
MAS noted that Singapore continued to be an attractive funding destination for global corporates.
For the Singdollar market, growth in issuances was broad-based across financial institutions, corporates and statutory boards, supported by lower rates and tighter credit spreads.
MAS also pointed out that Singapore is well-positioned to support growth in the digital corporate bond market.
While digital bond adoption remains at an early stage relative to traditional bond markets, the technology’s potential to enhance efficiency and lower costs indicates promising growth prospects, said the authority.
It added that, in 2025, it launched the Global-Asia Digital Bond Grant Scheme to support digital bond issuances and facilitate mainstream adoption.
As at the end of 2024, Singapore’s digital corporate bond issuance totalled around US$2.5 billion, from a range of issuers including corporations, financial institutions and special purpose vehicles.
