|Skip to ContentRelease dates | 
About
1998 complete report (33 KB PDF) | Tables 
(17 KB PDF)


1998
U.S. corporations issued $150 billion of medium-term notes (MTNs) in 1998, a sharp increase from $114 billion in 1997 (table 1.A).  Issuance by financial firms reached nearly $130 billion in 1998, and issuance by financial firms rose to $20 billion.  A total of 145 firms sold MTNs in 1998, down from 158 in 1997 (table 1.B).  Year-end MTNs outstanding rose $62 billion in 1998, to $380 billion (tables 2.A and 3).  The increase was largely accounted for by the $56 billion rise in outstandings at financial firms, to nearly $300 billion.  Outstandings for nonfinancial firms increased $6 billion, to $81 billion, after having declined for the previous two years.
The rating of borrowers in the corporate MTN market has always been predominantly investment-grade (tables 5 and 6).  As in 1997, roughly 99 percent of total MTN issuance had a rating of Baa or better (table 5.A).  Single-A-rated issuers were again the most common, accounting for 58 percent of total gross issuance, down from 60 percent in 1997.  The share of issuers with a AA rating remained stable at 25 percent.  Only one issuer had a speculative-grade credit rating last year (table 5.B).
The MTN market accounts for a sizable share of intermediate and long-term borrowing by U.S. companies.  One measure of the MTN market share is the volume of MTN issuance as a percent of total public issuance of investment-grade debt (MTNs plus corporate bonds).  For all U.S. corporations, this measure of share was 43 percent in 1998, down from 47 percent in 1997 (table 7); for financial firms, it was 61 percent, down only slightly from 62 percent in 1997; and for nonfinancial firms, it was 15 percent, down substantially from 20 percent in 1997.  Similarly, the ratio of outstanding MTN debt as a share of total corporate outstanding debt (MTNs plus corporate bonds) declined slightly over the year, from 19 percent to 15 percent (table 8).

The report, with tables, is available in  Acrobat (PDF) format.
         Obtaining the Acrobat ReaderStatistical releasesHome | 
Economic research and dataAccessibility | 
Contact Us
Last update: August 12, 2002 | The report, with tables, is available in  Acrobat (PDF) format.
         Obtaining the Acrobat Reader
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|The report, with tables, is available in  Acrobat (PDF) format.
         Obtaining the Acrobat Reader