BEIJING - China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday that it will sell 9.63 billion yuan ($1.48 billion) in 182-day book-entry discount treasury bonds next week.

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The short-term bonds, with an annual interest rate of 2.91 percent, will be issued on a discount basis at a price of 98.589 yuan for each bill, with a face price of 100 yuan, the MOF said in a statement.

The sales period for the bonds will last from May 16 to 18 and the bonds will become tradable on the securities markets on May 20, according to the statement.

The issuance of the bonds marks the second time for the ministry to issue such bonds this year. The ministry previously issued 10 billion yuan in 91-day book-entry discount treasury bonds in April at an annual interest rate of 2.55 percent.

The ministry also announced on Friday that it will issue another 11.71 billion yuan in first-batch book-entry treasury bonds, which will have a fixed annual interest rate of 2.81 percent.

The ministry previously issued 20 billion yuan in first-batch book-entry treasury bonds in April of this year.

The ministry issued its first batch of one-year book-entry treasury bonds in January of this year, with a total face value of 30 billion yuan. The continued issuance will bear the same interest rates and interest calculation period as the January issuance, the ministry said.