The first batch of 31.97 billion yuan of the total 200 billion
yuan in special treasury bonds targeting the general public will be
launched on Tuesday, China's Ministry of Finance said.
The ministry announced last Monday that it will issue 200
billion yuan (US$26.7 billion) in special treasury bonds as the
second part of a planned 1.55-trillion-yuan fund to finance the
country's new foreign exchange investment firm.
The first batch of the bonds, with a term of 15 years and an
annual yield of 4.68 percent, will be launched between September 18
and September 21, and tradable from September 27 via the national
inter-bank bond market and stock markets, said the ministry in a
statement on Monday.
The ministry said interest will be paid every half-year and the
bonds will finally be repaid on September 18, 2022.
The ministry said that private investors can trade the bonds at
the secondary market through the trial commercial banks - branches
of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank
of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.
According to the ministry, the special treasury bonds will be
issued in two groups, with the first 100 billion yuan to be issued
this month in three batches, while the sale of the remaining 100
billion yuan is scheduled for the fourth quarter.
Two more batches will be issued on September 21 and September
28.
In June, China's top legislature approved the issuance of 1.55
trillion yuan of special treasury bonds by the Ministry of Finance
to buy US$200 billion forex reserve for a state investment firm to
make better use of the country's huge foreign exchange
reserves.
At the end of August, the ministry issued 600 billion yuan of
special treasury bonds targeting the country's commercial banks
with an annual interest rate of 4.3 percent.
(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2007)
