개미들 ‘빚투’ 자금 대느라…증권사들 ‘급전’ 발행 급증

South Korean corporate bond (CP·91일물) rates have been lower than both company bond and currency-stability bond rates, leading to a phenomenon dubbed "company bond overvaluation." This has resulted in tighter money market financing and a shift towards shorter-term financing. In the first half of this year, corporate bonds and short-term bonds issued by domestic companies totaled 1272.8 trillion won, a staggering 68.0% increase from the same period last year.

The surge in short-term financing contributed to a significant rise in securities company issuance of corporate bonds (48 trillion won) and short-term bonds (615.5 trillion won). Researcher Kim Nam-jong of the Korea Financial Research Institute posits that the increasing need for short-term financing arises from a surge in stock investments and the growing reserves of credit institutions.

The money raised through securities issuance is subsequently connected to individual investors' stock and derivative leveraged investments through credit offerings. However, when market interest rates rose, corporate bond sentiment cooled, leading to a 6 trillion won "clean redemption" (standard for non-guaranteed bond issuances) in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, the proportion of corporate bonds issued for refinancing purposes reached 77.3% in the first five months of the year. As corporate bond issuance slows, the stark contrast in interest rates between corporate bonds and company bonds, even when compared to the Korea Bank's currency-stability bond rates, continues.