Businesses and governments around the world have rushed to raise tens of billions of dollars from bond markets, embarking on a frenetic round of new year fundraising amid fears that interest rates are set to jump.

A flurry of issuers including Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Media, BMW and Manchester United football club, turned to the capital markets yesterday aiming to raise more than $20bn.

Poland and Mexico were among a number of governments that also tapped international investors.

So far this month, more than $75bn has been raised, more than two-thirds of this by financial institutions trying to repair their balance sheets in the wake of the economic crisis.

Investors are expecting a spurt of issuance this week by junk-rated European companies, a sector of the bond market that was frozen for much of last year. Last week, the US corporate bond market had its second-ever busiest day.

Wayne Hiley, of Barclays Capital, said a recent rally in the corporate bond markets had lowered the interest rate premium to government bonds that businesses pay. That has encouraged a wave of opportunistic borrowing.

“There are issuers who are saying ‘let's take advantage of this' even if they hadn't planned to come to the market until later on,” he said.

Companies usually aim to sell bonds early in the year when investors have fresh funds and before many companies enter a “purdah” period ahead of earnings announcements.

However, the current round of capital raising is particularly intense and reflects concerns about the global economy and likely path of interest rates.