Economies around the world were still recovering during 2012 after the 2008-2009 recession. Governments and central banks continued their efforts to facilitate economic recovery. The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed) kept interest rates at record lows. This, along with several other reasons, found the bond markets flooded with new bond issues. The following article highlights some reasons why firms issued debt obligations to raise funds. In the context of the reasons why entities borrow in the form of bond issues, which statement is correct? Check all that apply. When lending money to corporations, banks often include restrictive covenants, such as maintaining a certain level of debt-to-equity ratio at all times. When government entities need to raise funds to finance projects, they issue debt securities in which investors are the creditors who usually earn a fixed rate of return from the borrower. When bonds issued by foreign governments offer higher yields than U.S. Treasury yields, corporate issuers in the United States get the opportunity to issue debt securities at low costs. Several bond issues - such as general obligation (GO) bonds and revenue bonds - offer federally tax-exempt income that attracts investors seeking tax-free income. Corporate-Bond Issuers Race to the Market as U.S. Yields Approach Record Low On April 25, 2011, the Fed announced that short-term interest rates would be kept near zero through late 2014. Because corporate bonds are indexed to Treasury yields and the Treasury yield hit nearly all-time lows, issuing conditions became conducive for investment-grade borrowers. Europe's debt crisis fueled the demand for relatively safer U.S. securities, and the market became more confident that Europe's crisis would not significantly disrupt recovery of the world's largest economy. This triggered issuers to announce investment-grade supply benefiting from the low borrowing costs. Companies such as IBM