S.Korea's corporate financing hits record high in H1

SEOUL, July 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate financing hit a fresh record high in the first half due to the stock market rally and the solid demand to issue bonds ahead of the expected rate hike, financial watchdog data showed Tuesday.

Corporate financing reached a new high of 122.77 trillion won (106.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-June period, up 31.25 trillion won (27.1 billion U.S. dollars) compared to the same period of last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The equity financing, which includes rights issuance and initial public offering (IPO), nearly sextupled to 12.64 trillion won (11 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half thanks to the rally in the local stock market.

The debt financing soared 23.2 percent over the year to 110.13 trillion won (95.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half as companies rushed to sell bonds ahead of the expected policy rate hike later this year.

Market watchers forecast that the country's central bank may raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in August or October from the current all-time low of 0.50 percent.

The bond issuance by industrial companies increased 10.8 percent to 30.78 trillion won (26.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the six-month period.

The bond sale by financial firms advanced 37.3 percent to 71.58 trillion won (62.2 billion U.S. dollars), but the asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance declined in double digits.