Asia’s dollar bond market has gone from feast to famine. After hitting record year-to-date levels, new issue volumes have slumped to the lowest level since 2008 this month thanks to turmoil in the global financial markets.
According to Dealogic, Asia ex-Japan borrowers have raised a total of $429 million so far this month. This is the lowest amount raised in a single month since October 2008 a month after Lehman filed for bankruptcy. A combination of fears that rates will rise and China’s liquidity crunch have caused yields and credit default swaps to spike in the region.
The iTraxx Asia...