Many were expecting only a modest reopening for the sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) bond market in 2023. So, a burst of investor appetite came as a pleasant surprise for issuers, who responded accordingly. Citi’s SSA team led the Europe, Middle East and Africa bookrunner rankings in the busiest January for some years.
Philip Brown, Citi’s SSA chairman, says that the factors dampening market expectations going into January had included stagflationary conditions and the ending of quantitative easing (QE). The increase in net supply to be placed with end-investors in an environment of rising rates would lead to higher yields and steeper curves.
