S. Korea's overseas bond sales hit record high in 2009

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's sales of overseas bonds hit a record high
last year as eased global financial turmoil and a faster-than-expected recovery
of the local economy reduced borrowing costs, a financial body said Sunday.
South Korea issued US$26.3 billion in overseas debt in the January-November
period, up from $15.7 billion registered for the whole of 2008, according to the
Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF).
Full-year sales of overseas bonds surpassed the $10 billion mark for the first
time in 2004 and rose to $20.4 billion in 2007, but the deepening global
financial storm sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers reduced the floating
of debts in 2008, it added.
A rise in overseas debt sales came as the global economy began to recover last
year, making it possible for the government to sell more overseas bonds that it
could not sell during the height of the crisis, the center said, adding that
rising confidence in Asia's fourth-largest economy also helped bring down
borrowing costs.
"As the local currency stabilized per the dollar and foreign investors' appetite
for risky assets increased, bond spreads sharply decreased," said Woo Hee-sung,
an analyst at KCIF.
In terms of issuance volume, South Korea ranked 21st in the world last year, up
four notches from 2008, it said.
In the January-September period, the United States sold the largest amount of
debts at $846.7 billion, followed by Germany with $324.8 billion and France with
$318.6 billion.
The South Korean economy grew 3.2 percent in the third quarter from three months
earlier, the fastest expansion in more than seven years, on the back of improving
domestic demand and brisk exports. The government and the Bank of Korea said the
local economy is estimated to have grown 0.2 percent last year, avoiding a yearly
contraction.
The Korean won rose 8.2 percent against the greenback in 2009, compared with the
previous year.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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