Corporate bond issuance picks up as interest rates set to rise

European corporate bond issuance has picked up significantly in the last month, in anticipation of future interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank. Indeed, the ECB has declared in no uncertain terms that it plans to raise rates in the short term to respond to inflationary pressures. This development has pushed corporate treasurers to take advantage of the last vestiges of the low rate environment by locking in the attractive rates that still allow corporations to borrow cheaply for funding plans. It is worth noting that when the ECB raised rates on 1 December 2005, this was the first increase in more than 7 quarters.