Market Summary

Yield Movements

Between 1 December 2024 and 28 February 2025, local currency (LCY) government bond yields in Singapore fell for most securities. Bond yields fell an average of 16 basis points for tenors of 15 years or less (except for 1-year bonds). On 24 January, the Monetary Authority of Singapore eased its monetary policy stance as it expects slower growth coupled with cooling inflation in 2025.

Local Currency Bond Market Size and Issuance

At the end of December, Singapore's LCY bond market grew 1.6% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 to SGD849.6 billion, slower than the previous quarter’s 1.8% q-o-q expansion. Outstanding Treasuries posted faster growth of 1.4% q-o-q compared to 0.6% q-o-q in the third quarter, while corporate bonds expanded 2.5% q-o-q in Q4 2024, reversing the previous quarter's 0.7% contraction. On the other hand, outstanding central bank bills inched up 1.2% q-o-q, slower than the previous quarter’s 4.4% growth due to increased maturities during Q4 2024. Total LCY bond issuance rose 3.0% q-o-q in Q4 2024, reversing the contraction of 3.7% q-o-q in the previous quarter, with all bond segments posting q-o-q increases.

Sustainable Bond Market

In Q4 2024, outstanding sustainable bonds grew 6.2% q-o-q to reach USD26.0 billion, predominantly composed of green bond instruments. Total outstanding sustainable bonds were mostly (80.6%) denominated in local currency. With 61.5% of total outstanding sustainable bonds holding maturities of over 5 years, the size-weighted average tenor of sustainable bonds in Singapore was at 16.7 years by the end of December.