Tight funding levels and an abundance of investor cash made for brisk MTN issuance in 2025. The story may change in 2026, with public market issuance named as one factor that could crowd out private placements. But a broadening Asian bid for MTNs offers hope for the market, writes Diana Bui

One of the key numbers for the SSA bond market is the EU’s borrowing need, published twice a year. The borrower has become one of the largest in the market, issuing €160bn of bonds in 2025, with a similar amount expected in 2026. It anticipates €700bn of funding needs between 2025 and 2030 in support of the various programmes it funds, including for NextGenerationEU. Now it has a new one: a €150bn instrument, which will disburse money to member states for defence in 2026. Siegfried Ruhl (pictured), hors classe adviser to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Budget, and Balazs Ujvari, Commission spokesperson for budget and administration, spoke to GlobalCapital’s Ralph Sinclair about the issuer’s path ahead in the bond market.

The public sector bond market digested more than $900bn of benchmark syndications in the first 10 months of 2025, close to the amount raised the previous year. New issue premiums varied by currency, with the biggest annual change in the euro market, writes Sarah Ainsworth

US tariffs, greater sovereign borrowing needs and political upheaval proved no barrier to SSA issuers raising a large amount of funding in 2025, and getting it done early, writes Addison Gong. But those challenges were just a taster for what lies in store for 2026 when the market is likely to become even more crowded

The sovereign, supranational and agency bond market in 2025 featured a number of innovative debuts, bringing new issuers to this most venerable of asset classes. Meanwhile, some of its biggest names priced stellar deals, breaking records and pioneering new formats even in volatile markets

The most senior debt capital markets bankers across the Street appear to be an optimistic bunch heading into 2026. In GlobalCapital’s survey of the heads of DCM, Ralph Sinclair discovers upbeat expectations for volumes, pay and hiring and asks how tech is reforming the business