Bond sale for sovereign wealth fund completed

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-14 15:41

China's finance ministry sold 26.35 billion yuan ($3.6 billion) of 10-year notes, completing this year's special bond issue to raise money for the country's sovereign wealth fund.

The debt was sold at a yield of 4.41 percent, according to traders at China Construction Bank Corp and the Agricultural Bank of China, primary dealers obliged to bid at government auctions. The coupon compares with the 4.49 percent in a sale of similar-maturity debt last month.

China's lawmakers approved a plan in June to sell 1.55 trillion yuan ($210.60 billion) in bonds to finance China Investment Corp, set up in September to help boost returns on the country's $1.46 trillion of currency reserves. China Investment this week sought applications for global asset management companies to help invest its funds in global equities.

"The government may sell special bonds again next year to raise money for the sovereign wealth fund to invest globally," said Nie Shuguang, a fixed-income trader at Industrial Bank Co in Shanghai.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond fell 2 basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 4.49 percent at 11:30 am in Shanghai, according to the China Interbank Bond Market.

The government has now sold about 200 billion yuan of 10- and 15-year debt to interbank market dealers and 1.35 trillion yuan to the central bank. The People's Bank of China has used the treasuries it holds to help control money supply through its open market operations, after the CPI reached the fastest in almost 11 years.

The bonds were sold at par value for 100 yuan face amount and dealers bid on the coupon rate.

China's local currency bonds have slumped 2.41 percent this year, the worst performers among 10 Asian local-currency debt indexes compiled by HSBC Holdings Plc.


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