Money

China starts selling $2.87b of 3-yr local govt bonds

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-24 17:36

BEIJING - China began selling 19.5 billion yuan ($2.87 billion) of three-year local government bonds on Tuesday, the sixth sale of such bonds this year.

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) is issuing the bonds on behalf of five provinces and municipalities -- Hebei, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guizhou and Shaanxi.

The bonds pay a fixed annual interest rate of 2.37 percent, the MOF said in a statement on its website.

Related readings:  China to sell $6.41b of local govt bonds on June 18  First issue of local govt bonds set for March 30  China's central bank issues 24b yuan 1-yr bills  China's central bank sells 18b yuan of 1-yr bills

The bonds will be sold on the national inter-bank bond market and the stock market between August 24 and August 26 and become tradeable on August 30.

China has sold 133.5 billion yuan ($19.63 billion) of local government debt so far this year.

The central government plans to sell 200 billion yuan ($29.41 billion) of local government debt in 2010.

The MOF began issuing local government bonds last year to help finance its 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package.