SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's corporate bond sales fell in double digits in the first half, driven by weaker financing demand from both industrial and financial companies, financial watchdog data showed Tuesday.
The issuance of corporate bonds sank 15.2 percent from a year earlier to 123.60 trillion won (86.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the first six months, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Bonds sold by industrial companies dived 31.5 percent to 25.91 trillion won, and financial firms' bond sales reduced 7.2 percent to 90.42 trillion won.
Outstanding corporate bonds totaled 757.24 trillion won at the end of June, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier.
Equity financing, including initial public offerings and rights issuance, reached 2.98 trillion won in the January-June period, down 29.6 percent from a year earlier. (1 won equals 0.00070 U.S. dollars) ■
