In retirement, Australia can’t turn the tap offl
The Aussie dollar and the overseas investment drive
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"US lenders like lending into jurisdictions where they don’t have to get accounts translated and where they speak roughly the same language" |
A strange thing has happened in the Australian debt markets this year: people have been issuing in them. "It’s actually quite intriguing," says Peter Christie, executive manager and head of corporate securities origination at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "There’s been A$16 billion done in the first quarter, and that would tell you we’re on track for an almost record year." The record, in far more agreeable market conditions, is A$67 billion; last year the total was just A$42 billion. This apparent good health is a little misleading: the range of issuers is dramatically narrower and pretty much hits a wall at a credit rating of AA. In brighter markets, Australia boasts a diverse array of corporate, asset-backed and hybrid debt; today, only the most highly rated names are getting a look in.
Typically, half of all issuance in Australian dollars comes from the kangaroo market: non-Australian issuance in Australian dollars.
