Banks and companies in emerging markets outside China are selling international bonds this year at the fastest rate since 2021, as the premium investors demand to own their debt over US Treasuries has fallen to its lowest since 2007.
Such borrowers issued at least $250bn in bonds between January and July, a pace that will bring them close to matching the full year volume of 2021, when issuance boomed in the Covid-19 pandemic, according to JPMorgan and S&P Global datasets.
Ebullient global stock and debt markets are leading companies to take advantage of falling borrowing costs, as investors bet that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause less damage than feared to the global economy.