Trading Value Falls below KRW400tn in Oct.
The Korea Financial Investment Association announced on Nov. 1 that the total bond trading value was 354 trillion won last month, down 77 trillion won from the previous month and down 100 trillion won from a year ago.
The trading value fell below 400 trillion won for the first time since January 2009. The average monthly value was approximately 600 trillion won in 2019, was more than 700 trillion won in 2020, and fell below 600 trillion won last year before moving around 450 trillion won this year.
Last month, new bond issuances totaled slightly over 55 trillion won, the lowest level of this year. The exchange bond market recorded a trading value of more than 100 trillion won in April and May, but the market froze after the Legoland default of Gangwon Province in late September.
Although the South Korean government and the Bank of Korea stabilized the market to some extent by supplying more than 50 trillion won in the market, a lot of public and private corporate bonds are still being shunned regardless of the ratings.