Thai Q1 corporate bond issuance at $8 bln as economy recovers

BANGKOK, April 5 (Reuters) - Thai firms issued long-term bonds worth 274 billion baht ($8.08 billion) in the first quarter of this year, up 1.6% year-on-year, to support business expansions as the economy recovers, an industry body said on Wednesday. The higher amount also reflected demand for fixed funding costs as interest rates are rising, the Thai Bond Market Association said. "The economic recovery made the private sector want to issue bonds to support increased economic activity and lock in financial costs," association president Somjin Sornpaisarn said in a statement. The association has forecast at least 1 trillion baht
($29.51 billion) in corporate bond issuance this year, after a record issuance of 1.27 trillion baht last year. Last week, the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for a fifth straight meeting, and said its policy tightening would continue as inflation remained higher than in the past while the economic recovery continued to gain traction. The central bank predicts Southeast Asia's second-largest economy will expand 3.6% this year, after 2.6% growth last year. In the January-March period, foreign investors sold 23 billion baht ($677.07 million) net of Thai bonds, but they were still holding 1.05 trillion baht of debt, or 6.5% of the total market.

($1 = 33.89 baht) (Reporting by Satawasin Staporncharnchai Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)