Syndicated loan volume in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan plunged 15% to US$214bn in the first half of this year from US$252.4bn in the first six months of 2014, as regional economies slowed due to weak exports and soft consumer demand. Deal flow slowed down considerably with 587 transactions closed - a 35% drop compared with the 870 deals in what was a busy first half of 2014, and the outlook for the rest of the year is not expected to improve given the region's huge dependence on trade. "With the economic slowdown that is taking place, companies don't have the confidence to invest in increased capital expenditure, and therefore if they can defer expansion, they can also defer borrowing," said Phil Lipton, HSBC's head of loan syndications, Asia-Pacific.
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