AUD debts hit YTD record near A270 bln
Pandemic refinancing drives sales; demand strong
Bankers see slowdown into US election

SYDNEY, Oct 16 Reuters Australian dollar debt sales, running at the fastest clip on record, are starting to hit the brakes as capital markets hunker down for the U.S. election, according to bankers in Sydney.

Some A267.6 billion 180.4 billion has been raised in the debt market over the year to Oct. 8, the largest figure on Dealogic records stretching back to 1995, as pandemicera borrowing has been refinanced into hot investor demand.

Financial institutions have sold A95.6 billion in debt a record for the yeartodate, as is the A61.4 billion in asset or mortgagebacked debt. Total corporate issuance, at A26.4 billion, is up nearly 70 on the previous year.

Yet bankers said the rush to do deals encouraged by benign market conditions and an expectation that the U.S. election could make this quarter unpredictable has abruptly slowed.

The pause, albeit in a small corner of the world39;s debt market, points to an imminent broader drawdown in global capital market activity in the lead up to an unusually close U.S. vote.

If we look forward, I think the volatility is kicking up, we39;re going into the U.S. election, so that39;s my big caveat, said Simon Ward, head of debt capital markets for Australasia at Mizuho Securities Asia in Sydney.

The conditions were excellent…every market, the major markets anyway, have been on fire, he said.

In the…