New Zealand: bonds, indices, credit ratings

The two major sectors of the New Zealand bond market are Government Bonds and Corporate Bonds. The government bond sector is a broad category that includes ‘sovereign’ debt, which is issued and backed by a central government. Sovereign bonds are generally considered to have a very low default risk as is evident in the AAA credit rating of New Zealand Government Bonds. The next largest sector of the bond markets is corporate bonds. Corporations borrow money in the bond market to expand operations or fund new business ventures. They fall into two broad categories: investment grade and unrated bonds.