SEOUL, Bond sales in South Korea shrank from a month earlier in May partly due to a decline in corporate bond issues, data showed Tuesday.

The value of bonds sold last month came to 74.5 trillion won (US$54.1 billion), down 8.6 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association.

The value of outstanding bonds, on the other hand, gained 21 trillion won on-month to reach 2,801 trillion won as of end-May amid a net increase in government bond issues.

Corporate bond issuance came to 7 trillion won in May, down 1.9 trillion won from the previous month.

Sales of environment, social and governance bonds, a type of sustainability debt offering aimed at financing corporate activities in environmentally friendly and sustainable projects, also fell 3 trillion won to 4.4 trillion won over the cited period.

Demand forecasting for corporate bonds came to 2.21 trillion won in May, down 290 billion won from a month earlier.

In May, foreign investors net purchased 3
.5 trillion won worth of local bonds, while boosting their total bond holdings to 251 trillion won at end-May, up 3.8 trillion won from a month earlier.

Retail investors also remained net buyers of local bonds in May, purchasing a net 3.5 trillion won.

Source: Yonhap News Agency