Beijing Flags Acceleration of Local Government Special Bond Issuance

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China’s Ministry of Finance has called for the accelerated issuance of local government special bonds, as Beijing launches more active fiscal policy in order to deal with the potential impacts of ongoing Sino-US trade tensions.

On 14 August MOF issued new opinions on properly conducting work in relation to the issuance of local government special bonds, mandating the accelerated issuance and usage of local government special bonds.

The Opinions state that financial authorities at all levels should engage in coordination with the corresponding project authorities for special bonds, and engage in preliminary preparation work for accelerating special bond issuance.

Province-level finance departments should “rationally grasp the pace of special bond issuance, and make scientific arrangements for issuance plans over the next several months, and August and September especially, and accelerate issuance schedules.”

Towards the end of July China’s State Council called for the launch of more active fiscal policy in the second half of 2018 in order to bolster economic growth.

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