China Issues $172 Billion in Local Government Bonds in Q1

The Chinese Ministry of Finance announced that local governments in China issued new bonds worth approximately 1.24 trillion yuan (about $172 billion) during the first quarter of this year.

The Ministry of Finance stated, according to Xinhua News Agency, that the value of private bond issuance amounted to approximately 960.3 billion yuan, while the value of public bond issuance amounted to 279.1 billion yuan.

During the mentioned period, local governments issued these bonds with an average term of 17.2 years and an average interest rate of 1.97%.

In March alone, the total value of new local government bond issuance reached 437.5 billion yuan.

The Ministry stated that outstanding local government debt in China reached 50.165 trillion yuan at the end of March.