New York (CNN Business) Corporate debt was already at historic highs even before the coronavirus crisis. Now it's soaring at an unprecedented pace as companies scramble to ensure they have enough cash to weather the crisis.

That added debt could make an economic recovery much more difficult. Companies will have to pay down those borrowings, forcing them to scale back planned investments, defer capital spending projects or postpone bringing back employees they let go during the crisis.

"If a company is borrowing just to survive through the pandemic, that borrowing could in the future impact their ability to invest in other things," said Will Caiger-Smith, associate editor of research firm Debtwire. "It'll be a headwind to the recovery. They won't just answer to their shareholders or employees, they'll have to answer to their lenders."

The value of investment-grade corporate bonds issued in 2020 so far by companies outside the financial sector is $425 billion, according to data from Refinitiv. That's nearly twice what was issued a year ago at this time. More than $300 billion of that came in March and the first three weeks of April alone -- the two biggest months for corporate bond issues on record.

That increase in corporate debt is "very broad based," said Matt Toole, the deals intelligence director at Refinitiv. "At the point where your industry is shut and [has] no date to come back, [they're working to] insure that they are keeping adequate levels of cash."