The apathy afflicting corporate bonds has spread to the secondary market where debt issues have failed to trade in the third quarter of the year. The higher risk associated with corporate bonds means they have traditionally paid a higher interest compared to government paper, but now it seems investors are unwilling to take a risk on the corporate paper at any cost. Secondary market“The negative sentiments relating to delayed bank resolutions have cast a shadow over the whole corporate bond market,” said the CMA in the report released last week. South Africa for instance, has a vibrant corporate bonds market with thousands of companies issuing debt in the market. NSE data shows that out of the 17 outstanding corporate bonds in the market, nine will be due for redemption next year, a further four in 2020 and the remaining four in 2021 and 2022.

Source: Daily Nation November 05, 2018 05:48 UTC