Asian dollar bond issuance reached historic levels in 2012. Can we expect the same in 2013?
When we first started talking about 2013, I was very much of the view we would not see a year where volumes would be greater than 2012. I am increasingly of the view that it might challenge 2012 in terms of volumes, simply because of how strong the markets are and how busy we will be in the first quarter of this year. I think we will see a surge of issuance in January and that it could be the busiest month we have ever seen. I would expect rates to stay low for the foreseeable future and the credit environment to remain constructive for the best part of 2013. There is a lot of interest globally in Asia and a huge desire among global funds to allocate more capital to the emerging markets.
