Emerging market governments have raised more than $40bn on international bond markets so far this year, as an easing of global inflationary pressures and hopes of an economic rebound in China clear the way for the fastest January borrowing spree on record.

A bruising sell-off that swept global fixed income last year, as big central banks responded to runaway inflation by sharply raising interest rates, effectively shut many borrowers in the developing world out of bond markets for long periods. But money has flooded back into bonds in the new year on further signs that inflation may have peaked in the US and the eurozone, with countries including Mexico, Hungary, and Turkey launching large bond sales.

“Last year, patience didn’t really pay off, the market continued to get worse as it went on,” said Stefan Weiler, head of CEEMEA debt capital markets at JPMorgan. “So this year, many sovereign borrowers have jumped through this window of opportunity as quickly as they could.”