S. Korean bond issuance up in Jan. on expansionary policy

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's bond issuance climbed in January as the government floated more treasury notes to meet increased budget spending, the bourse operator said Monday.

The government, banks and companies sold a total of 43.55 trillion won (US$31.66
billion) worth of bonds in January, up 4.7 percent from a month earlier, the
Korea Exchange (KRX) said.
Sales of treasury bonds jumped 64.5 percent to 6.76 trillion won last month,
according to the KRX.
Issuance of bank bonds, however, dropped 13.8 percent to 7.33 trillion won, with
sales of corporate bonds also shrinking 2.3 percent to 6.85 trillion won, it
said.
Meanwhile, sales of so-called special bonds, including bonds sold by the central
bank, fell 1.9 percent to 29.58 trillion won over the cited period, according to
the bourse operator.
Trading volume also increased 2.3 percent to 172.58 trillion won in January,
compared with the previous month, it said.