Bangladesh ranks fourth in govt domestic bond issuance in Asia-Pacific

Bangladesh is the fourth most domestically government bond issuing country in the Asia-Pacific region.

During the last two decades, 1995-2016 to be precise, the government of Bangladesh issued some 428 bonds at the domestic market.

Chinese government issued 1238 bonds domestically, the highest by a country in the region followed by India (1,116) and Vietnam (585).

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) unveiled the scenario in its annual flagship publication ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2018’ released in Bangkok last month.

It also showed that in terms of an average amount of bond issuance as percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Sri Lank topped the list with issuing government bonds worth 10 per cent of GDP, followed by Turkey (9.0 pc), China (6.2 pc), Singapore (5.7pc ) and Malaysia (5.2pc).

“Issuance of public bonds is not very common in developing Asia-Pacific economies,” said the report. “Of 47 countries with available data during the period 1995-2016, 20 countries have never issued any government bonds, 11 countries have issued public domestic bonds only and 16 countries have issued both public domestic and foreign bonds.”

The report added that most of the countries that have never issued a public bond are either a least developed country or a small island developing state.