China allocates $29b T-bonds among local govts

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-27 20:21

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has decided how to allocate 200 billion yuan ($29.3 billion) in treasury bonds that will be issued on behalf of local governments, with the largest share going to Sichuan province, which was severely hit by the May 12 earthquake, CCTV reported Friday.

The southwestern province will issue 18 billion yuan in local government bonds, with the MOF as the legal debtor. “The money will be used to help reconstruction and prop up growth (amid the global economic crisis),” said Huang Jinsheng, head of the Sichuan provincial department of finance.

The 200-billion-yuan local government bond offerings are part of China’s 950-billion-yuan treasury bonds sale plan, which aims to fund a record fiscal deficit resulting from massive stimulus plan.

China has rolled out a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus plan to spur expansion in the world’s third largest economy.

Guangdong will get 11 billion yuan, Yunnan 8.4 billion, Liaoning 6.6 billion, Guangxi 6.5 billion, Guizhou 6.4 billion, Shaanxi 6 billion, Hebei 6 billion, Anhui 4 billion, Ningxia 3 billion, and Xinjiang 3 billion.

Beijing, the Chinese capital, is expected to offer 5.6 billion yuan in government debts as early as April or May, according to Yang Xiaochao, head of the Beijing bureau of finance.

Shares for other regions are yet to be decided.

The sale of local government bonds will start in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on March 30.