Bonds and syndicated loans during the Covid-19 crisis: decoupled again?

Key takeaways

• Borrowing by non-financial firms in global debt markets surged following the Covid-19 shock. Bond issuance boomed, while syndicated loan originations trailed.
• Led by easier access to bond markets, large firms significantly increased their borrowing. The rest of the firms faced bottlenecks due to their reliance on a strained syndicated loan market and hurdles in switching to bond markets.
• Large firms, which had lower cash buffers pre-crisis than smaller firms, used part of the fresh credit to raise their buffers in addition to meeting liquidity shortfalls.