Long-term Financing: Exploring the Recent Advances in the Brazilian Bond Market

Abstract

Context: in Brazil, there was an expansion of private funding via bond issuances, especially since 2017. Before that period, the sources of long-term financing were concentrated on public funding. Objective: this study aims to explore the main factors that could have positively affect Brazilian bond market and if it would be possible to improve project financing through this debt instruments. Methods: using mixed methods with econometric tests and qualitative interview analysis, this study assesses which were the factors that supported this growth and if there is any difference across industries. Results: we found that a change in the market trend has indeed happened around 2017, and it was more pronounced in specific industries such as electricity. Interviewees suggested that increases in demand (possibly triggered by the reduction of public sources of funding and the fall in local interest rates) could be the main factors that supported this change in trend. Conclusions: therefore, this study reinforces the importance of local market conditions and government policies affecting the relative attractiveness of private versus public sources of corporate investment.