- Index of Hawaii debt is down 2.8% in August, most of any state
- State’s ‘sizable cash balances’ help disaster support: Fitch
Hawaii state and local municipal bonds have surrendered all their 2023 gains in the past three weeks after the deadly Maui wildfires delivered a fresh reminder of climate risk in the $4 trillion market for state and local debt.
An index comprised of Hawaiian municipal securities has dropped 2.81% in August, the worst performance of any state and compared to a 1.8% loss for the broader market, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Hawaii is one of only four states to post a negative performance this year. At the end of July, its municipal bonds were sporting a more than 2% gain for 2023.
“The Hawaii index was impacted by the large drop of bonds associated with the Maui catastrophe,” said Tom Doe, president and founder of Municipal Market Analytics.
Bloomberg Markets
By Maxwell Adler
August 25, 2023