Interest rate spreads on both investment-grade and speculative-grade bond issues narrowed substantially over the year, as investors apparently became more confident about the economic expansion and saw less risk of adverse shocks from accounting and other corporate scandals. Corporate treasurers took advantage of the attractive market conditions by issuing long-term debt to lengthen the maturities of corporate liabilities.
Marian Jusko: Approaching the euro Speech by Mr Marian Jusko, Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia, at the Conference "Challenges of EU Accession", Prague, 1 April 2003.