As the human toll and financial fallout from the COVID-19 spreads across U.S. states, counties and cities, S&P Global Ratings Research expects municipal bond issuance to shrink considerably this year. “At this time, we expect issuance [in the public finance sector] to contract between 3% and 7%. We see depressed issuance among the long-term debt we track to continue as we have seen in March and so far in April, at least through the near-term,” S&P said in a report released Friday. “That situation could change if relief passes through Congress, or a major change in the trajectory of the COVID-19 outbreak occurs.” S&P cautioned that its 2020 supply forecast was volatile because “so much depends on how quickly economic activity resumes and where, as well as what aid is made available to state and local governments by the Fed or by Congress.”
(Read more: The Bond Buyer)
