Quality issuers face a year of uncertainty

Quality borrowers got away a lot of issues last month, but investors are getting more choosy, especially about dollar bonds. Rising interest rates and an equity revival also raise uncertainties about the year to come. Mark Brown reports.

Taor: applauds Freddie
Mac for sticking with its
comeback 10-year euro
issue


HIGHLY RATED BORROWERS would be well advised to look behind January’s headlines for clues as to what the rest of 2004 holds. The year got off to a superficially promising start. Indeed, quality issuers dominated primary markets last month.

The first full week of the year saw deals from Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten (BNG), Freddie Mac, Rentenbank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Council of Europe Development, and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

In the week ending January 23, new euro-denominated bond issue totalled e21.6

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