Corporate debt issuance in Singapore exceeded S$300 billion in 2024, growing more than 30% year-over-year, driven by broad-based demand across financial institutions, corporates, and statutory boards.

Market Overview

Singapore's corporate debt market recorded its strongest annual performance on record in 2024, with new issuance volumes rising 34% year-on-year to S$308 billion, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore's (MAS) Singapore Corporate Debt Market Development 2025 report. This marks the first time annual issuance has surpassed the S$300 billion threshold, confirming Singapore's position as a premier debt capital markets hub in Asia.

The growth was particularly striking when adjusting for a large multi-tranche issuance in 2023 that had inflated that year's baseline. Excluding that transaction, Singapore's bond issuance grew 67.1% year-on-year in 2024, MAS reported.

Total outstanding debt arranged by financial institutions in Singapore rose 9% year-on-year to S$617 billion at end-2024.

Issuance Drivers

Financial institutions (FIs) were the dominant issuers across both Singapore dollar and non-Singdollar bonds. FIs drove issuance in the non-Singdollar market, with their share increasing 23.7% and volumes rising S$92 billion in 2024, fuelled by the need to fund asset book growth.

In the Singdollar market, growth was broad-based across FIs, corporates, and statutory boards, supported by lower interest rates and tighter credit spreads. The global backdrop was favourable: global bond issuance reached US$9.1 trillion in 2024, as central bank rate cuts lowered borrowing costs and encouraged issuers to capitalise on cheaper financing conditions.

Singapore also continued to attract global corporates with operations in the city-state, who tapped the domestic market for funding. Notable foreign issuers included Pfizer Investment Enterprises Pte Ltd, which issued a multi-tranche deal to fund acquisition needs. Early 2024 also saw other technology and consumer sector foreign issuers accessing Singapore's bond market.

S$ billion (S$B)Source: Orionmano Industries

Note: Pre-2024 figures are estimated based on reported growth rates and 2024 absolute values; 2024 figure is S$308 billion as reported by MAS.

Digital Bond Market

Digital bond adoption remained at an early stage relative to traditional bond markets, but the technology shows potential to enhance efficiency and lower costs. As of end-2024, Singapore's digital corporate bond issuance reached approximately US$2.5 billion, coming from a diverse range of issuers including corporations, financial institutions, and special purpose vehicles.

To promote digital bond issuance and facilitate mainstream adoption, MAS launched the Global-Asia Digital Bond Grant Scheme (G-ADBGS) in 2025, offering up to S$450,000 per qualifying issuance. This grant is designed to offset the incremental costs of issuing digital bonds and encourage broader market participation.

Market Composition

Financial institutions accounted for 54.2% of total issuance in 2024, according to MAS's 2024 data. Corporations (excluding property) represented 41.8%, while special purpose vehicles (including corporate, reinsurance, and FI SPVs) comprised 4.0%.

Issuance volumes for long-term total Singdollar and non-Singdollar bonds reached US$75 billion in 2024, 15% higher than the average issuance volumes over the prior five years.

Broader Financial Sector Context

The corporate debt market strength was part of a wider expansion in Singapore's financial sector. Assets under management grew 12.2% year-on-year to exceed S$6 trillion for the first time. The insurance industry's total assets increased 3.6% to S$456.4 billion. Singapore also solidified its position as a leading FX hub, with average daily FX traded volumes surpassing S$1.5 trillion in 2024.

MAS Managing Director Chia Der Jiun, speaking at the MAS Annual Report 2024/2025 media conference, noted that the corporate debt market registered strong growth, with total issuance increasing more than 30% from the previous year to exceed S$300 billion. He also emphasised that Singapore banks maintain strong capital buffers and healthy liquidity profiles, able to weather a global recession and tightened financial conditions for an extended period, though some business and household segments remain vulnerable.

Outlook

The growth trajectory of Singapore's corporate debt market is underpinned by structural factors: the city-state's role as Asia's leading debt capital markets hub, a supportive regulatory environment, and increasing global corporate appetite for Asian funding sources. Between 2004 and 2023, Singapore's foreign currency bond market grew at a CAGR of about 10%, significantly outpacing the global bond market's ~1% growth.

MAS's ongoing stress testing—which now applies scenarios incorporating sharp tightening in global financial conditions, heightened market volatility, a trade shock, and persistent policy uncertainty—suggests the regulator is preparing for potential headwinds while maintaining confidence in the system's resilience. The introduction of the digital bond grant scheme signals continued policy support for market modernisation.

For professional investors, the key takeaway is that Singapore's corporate debt market has reached a new scale, offering deeper liquidity and greater diversity of issuance across currencies and issuer types, while regulatory oversight remains robust.