Seoul: Corporate direct financing in South Korea plunged 21 percent in March from a month earlier on decreased bond sales, data showed Thursday. Local companies raised a combined 21.82 trillion won (US$15.32 billion) last month by selling stocks and bonds, down 6.18 trillion won from the previous month.

According to Yonhap News Agency, stock sales slightly rose to 469 billion won in March from the previous month's 443 billion won. However, share sales via initial public offerings dipped to 169 billion won from 205 billion won over the cited period. Corporate bond sales tumbled 22.6 percent on-month to 21.34 trillion won.

The value of outstanding corporate bonds stood at 704.68 trillion won as of end-March, marking an increase of 2.98 trillion won from a month earlier.