New data points to nearly 4.17 trillion yuan in local government bond issuance for 2018, with Beijing releasing debt quotas for 2019 in advance in order to more effectively implement active fiscal policy.
A report from Securities Daily puts local government bond issuance at 63.8 billion yuan in the month of December, for full year issuance of 4.1652 trillion yuan.
Chinese local government bond issuance was 45.9 billion yuan in November, and 4.1014 trillion yuan for the first eleven months of 2018.
19 December saw the issuance of 6 billion yuan in Xiong’an New District stage one normal bonds; 9 billion yuan in stage two normal bonds, as well as 3 billion yuan, 10 billion yuan and 2 billion yuan in stage one, stage two and stage three special bonds respectively.
20 December saw the issuance of 200 million yuan in stage 30 special bonds, 500 million yuan in stage 31 special bonds and 7.8 billion yuan in stage 32 special bonds by Guangdong province, while other local governments that raised debt last month included Xinjiang, Shandong province, Tianjin municipality and Heilongjiang province.
The Chinese government has also taken the step of releasing its 2019 local government bond quotas in advance of the National People’s Congress scheduled for March, as part of efforts to “better exploit the role of active fiscal policy,” as well as “accelerate the progress of local government bond issuance and usage, ensure funds for key projects, and exploit the vital role of local government bond funds with regard to stabilising investment, expanding internal demanding and compensating for shortcomings.”
The State Council has issued a local government new normal bond quota of 580 billion yuan for 2019, and a new special bond quota of 810 billion yuan, for a total of 1.39 trillion yuan.
