Social debt surges to record in first half of year

LONDON: Sales of debt for projects aimed at helping society surged to a record in the first half of the year as governments, supranational entities and companies boosted borrowing to get through the pandemic.

Issuance across the globe amounted to US$41.9bil, a 376% jump from the same period a year ago, driven by large sales from issuers like French unemployment insurance management body Unédic Asseo, the Republic of Korea and the African Development Bank, according to a new report by BloombergNEF.