Texas Leads in 2014 Debt Sales as Population Swells: Muni Credit
This article is for subscribers only.
Texas and its localities are taking on more debt this year than any other U.S. state, outpacing New York and California for the first time in at least a decade as a growing population pushes lawmakers to bond for projects.
Municipalities in the state, home to seven of the 15 fastest-growing U.S. cities, issued about $19 billion of bonds in the first half of 2014, up 24 percent from the same period last year, according to data Bloomberg began compiling in 2003. Texas is one of 11 states where issuance is climbing, in contrast with a market-wide slowdown even as borrowing costs are close to generational lows.