China issues 122.3 billion yuan of local government bonds from January to February

China News Agency, Beijing, March 3 (Reporter Zhao Jianhua) The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China announced on the 3rd that from January to February 2020, local government bonds in the country will be 122.3 billion yuan (RMB, the same below). Among them, 273.2 billion yuan were issued for general bonds and 949.8 billion yuan were issued for special bonds; all are newly-increased bonds classified by purpose.

From January to February, the average issuance period of local government bonds was 15.2 years, of which general bonds were 17.5 years and special bonds were 14.5 years; the average issue rate of local government bonds was 3.44%, of which 3.39% were general bonds and 3.46% were special bonds.

From January to February, interest on local government bonds was 52.9 billion yuan. Among them, local government bonds in February paid 29.7 billion yuan in interest.

Just in the past February, the country issued local government bonds of 437.9 billion yuan. Among them, 202.9 billion yuan were issued for general bonds, and 235 billion yuan were issued for special bonds; all are newly added bonds by purpose.

In February, the average issuance period of local government bonds was 17.5 years, including 18.2 years for general bonds and 17 years for special bonds; the average interest rate for local government bonds was 3.34%, of which 3.35% were general bonds and 3.33% were special bonds.

As of the end of February 2020, the national government debt balance was 222.5302 trillion yuan. Among them, general debt was 1214.6 billion yuan, special debt was 10.387 trillion yuan; government bonds were 22.413 trillion yuan, and non-government bonds in the form of government debt were 188.9 billion yuan.

As of the end of February 2020, the average remaining life of local government bonds is 5.4 years, including 5 years for general bonds and 5.8 years for special bonds; the average interest rate is 3.54%, of which 3.54% is general bonds and 3.53% is special bonds.

The Ministry of Finance also announced on the same day that it had pre-allocated the central government's budget for balanced transfer payments to local governments in 2020. Provincial financial departments must pay close attention to decomposing and issuing transfer payment budgets to ensure that funds are timely and fully available; grass-roots financial departments must reasonably arrange the use of transfer payment funds issued by superiors, while ensuring the "three guarantees" and key areas of expenditure guarantee, Safeguard expenditures for the prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, make good use of funds, and improve the efficiency of fund use.

In 2020, the balanced transfer payment budget advance allocation table shows that the balanced transfer payment budget allocated to Hebei, Shanxi, and other provinces and cities has reached 1603.2 billion yuan. (Finish)