SIFMA Survey Forecasts Total Long-Term Municipal Issuance of $322.5 billion in 2018

New York, NY, December 19, 2017 – Respondents to the 2018 SIFMA Municipal Issuance Survey expect total long-term municipal issuance to fall to $322.5 billion in 2018.  Short-term issuance is expected to decline in 2018, with $40.0 billion in short-term notes expected to be financed.  Including short-term issuance, total municipal issuance is expected to fall to $362.5 billion, down from $454.6 billion expected in 2017.

Respondents were polled as to events that would most likely have the greatest effect on the municipal market in 2018. Survey respondents almost unanimously considered the proposed restrictions on private activity bonds and advance refundings to have the greatest effect.

Respondents project long-term tax-exempt municipal issuance to reach $275.0 billion in 2018. Taxable municipal issuance is expected to rise by 39.4 percent to $47.5 billion in 2018.  Given a possible future restriction on private activity bonds that was prevailing in Congress at the time of the survey and possible changes to the individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), respondents predicted AMT issuance will vanish entirely in 2018.

-30-

SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry. We represent the broker-dealers, banks and asset managers whose nearly 1 million employees provide access to the capital markets, raising over $2.5 trillion for businesses and municipalities in the U.S., serving clients with over $18.5 trillion in assets and managing more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients including mutual funds and retirement plans. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.