/Courtesy of Korea Securities Depository

The Korea Securities Depository announced on the 16th that the total amount of funds raised through short-term bonds (STB) last year was 868.3 trillion won. This is an increase of 1.5% (12.8 trillion won) from 2023.

Short-term bonds are issued by corporations that meet specific requirements, such as having a maturity of less than one year and an issuance amount of more than 100 million won. They were introduced in 2013 to replace commercial papers and the call market.

Looking at the types of short-term bonds issued last year, general short-term bonds accounted for 625.3 trillion won, while asset-backed short-term bonds accounted for 243 trillion won. Bonds with maturities of less than 7 days made up 45.6%, and those from 8 to 92 days accounted for 54%, dominating the market.

When categorized by credit rating, A1 rated bonds accounted for 92.2% of the total issuance amount. The proportion of A1 rated bonds increased by 3% compared to 2023, while the proportion of A2 rated and lower bonds decreased by 13.3% during the same period.

By sector, the issuance scale of short-term bonds was the largest for ▲securities companies at 329.1 trillion won ▲asset-backed companies at 243 trillion won ▲other financial industries such as cards and capital at 153.9 trillion won ▲and general and public enterprises at 142.3 trillion won.