Singapore's corporate debt market registered total issuance exceeding SGD 300 billion in 2024, representing an increase of more than 30% from the previous year.

Market Overview: A Record Year for Corporate Debt

Singapore’s corporate debt market reached a historic milestone in 2024, with new issuance volumes surging 34% year-on-year to SGD 308 billion, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Total outstanding corporate debt arranged by financial institutions in Singapore rose 9% to SGD 617 billion as at end-2024, reflecting broad-based demand across both domestic and international issuers. The growth reversed the subdued activity of 2023, when global bond issuance remained flat at USD 6.6 trillion amid peak interest rates and economic uncertainty.

The 34% headline figure masks an even more pronounced rebound when accounting for a large multi-tranche issuance in 2023: excluding that transaction, Singapore’s bond issuance grew 67.1% year-on-year in 2024. Global bond issuance rose to USD 9.1 trillion in 2024 as central banks began cutting interest rates, lowering borrowing costs and encouraging issuers to capitalise on more favourable financing conditions.

Segment Analysis: Short-Term Non-SGD Debt Dominates

Short-term non-Singdollar debt—defined as maturities of one year or less—represented the largest segment of new corporate borrowings in 2024, accounting for nearly 60% of total issuance, or approximately SGD 182 billion. This surge reflects corporate treasurers’ preference for shorter-dated instruments amid declining rate environments, allowing refinancing flexibility and lower absolute yields.

In the Singdollar market, growth was broad-based across financial institutions (FIs), corporates, and statutory boards. Corporates, including property companies, issued SGD 4.1 billion more in Singdollar debt than in 2023, while statutory board issuance rose by SGD 6.1 billion. The Housing & Development Board emerged as the largest corporate bond issuer in Q4 2024, issuing SGD 2.3 billion in a single quarter—representing nearly half of total local-currency corporate issuance during that period.

Issuer Composition: Financial Institutions Lead

Financial institutions remained the dominant issuers across both Singdollar and non-Singdollar markets. While their share of Singdollar issuance contracted by 9.9 percentage points year-on-year, FIs were particularly active in the non-Singdollar segment, where their share increased by 23.7 percentage points and issuance volumes jumped by SGD 92 billion. This activity was driven by the need to finance asset book growth across multiple currencies, including US and Australian dollars, pounds sterling, euros, yuan, and Hong Kong dollars.

Global corporations continued to favour Singapore as a funding hub. Notable transactions included IBM International Capital raising USD 5.5 billion and PepsiCo issuing USD 1.75 billion in US dollar-denominated bonds arranged out of Singapore. The city-state’s deep capital markets ecosystem, competitive clearing and settlement infrastructure, and regulatory clarity underpin its role as Asia’s premier debt capital market hub.

Local Currency Bond Market Dynamics

Singapore’s broader local-currency (LCY) bond market, which includes government securities and MAS bills, reached SGD 849.6 billion in outstanding size at end-December 2024. Issuance of MAS bills accounted for almost 90% of total LCY issuance in Q4 2024. Corporate bond issuance within the LCY segment recorded the fastest quarterly expansion, growing 30.4% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2024, recovering from a 0.7% contraction in Q3 2024.

Sustainable bond issuance showed mixed momentum. While total outstanding sustainable bonds remained significant, LCY green bond issuance posted a modest 3.0% quarter-on-quarter growth in Q4 2024, reversing the previous quarter’s 3.7% contraction.

Issuance Volume (SGD billion) (SGD B)Source: Orionmano Industries

Digital Bond Market and Policy Support

Singapore’s digital corporate bond market, while still at an early stage relative to traditional issuance, reached approximately USD 2.5 billion in cumulative issuance as of end-2024. Issuers spanned corporations, financial institutions, and special purpose vehicles, demonstrating growing diversity in digital debt capital market participation.

To encourage mainstream adoption, MAS launched the Global-Asia Digital Bond Grant Scheme (G-ADBGS) in 2025, offering up to SGD 450,000 per qualifying issuance. The grant aims to offset the initial structuring and distribution costs associated with digital bond issuance, potentially lowering barriers for smaller and mid-tier issuers.

Outlook for 2025

Debt capital market issuance volumes in Singapore are expected to remain relatively stable in 2025, according to market participants surveyed by The Business Times. Financial institutions—having been the most prolific issuers over the past three years—are likely to remain major contributors to Singdollar market activity. However, the trajectory will depend on the pace of further interest rate normalisation, credit spread evolution, and the broader macroeconomic environment in Asia.

The shift toward shorter-duration instruments observed in 2024 may persist if rate cuts continue, though a potential stabilisation of yield curves could encourage longer-dated issuance. The digital bond segment, while still a fraction of the overall market, carries the highest growth potential as the G-ADBGS takes effect and market infrastructure matures.