municipal refi up, new borrowing down in Jan

No credit expansion here. With the loss of energy related capex credit expansion something needs to rise to the occasion for GDP growth to continue:

Rates for 10-year AAA muni debt fell 0.29 percentage points while 30-year debt saw a decline of 0.33 percentage points. That corresponded with sharp declines in U.S. government debt, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury sliding from 2.12 percent to 1.68 percent by the end of January, and the 30-year bond from 2.69 percent to 2.25 percent.

That sent governments into the refunding process, where they were able to cut the financing costs for their debt substantially.

However, the move-in rates did not translate into an avalanche of new debt. New money issuance, in fact, fell 30 percent to 8.4 percent, perhaps reflecting a low level of confidence about the future trajectory of rates.