A total of 35 batches of Treasury bonds amounting to about 2.35
trillion yuan (324.8 billion US dollars) were issued by the Chinese
Ministry of Finance (MOF) in 2007, 1.46 trillion yuan more than in
2006, said the MOF Wednesday.
Statistics from the MOF showed that among the 35 batches of
T-bonds, there were eight batches of special treasury bonds
totaling 1.55 trillion yuan, 21 batches of book-entry treasury
bonds totaling 634.7 billion yuan, five batches of certificate
treasury bonds of 160 billion yuan and one batch of electronic
saving bonds for about 3.4 billion yuan.
The ministry said by the end of 2007, China's aggregated
domestic debt balance exceeded five trillion yuan for the first
time, doubling the figure from the end of 2003.
In 2007, the country's total transaction volume of treasury
bonds reached 19 trillion yuan, nearly 50 percent more than that of
2003.
Assistant Financial Minister Zhang Tong told a national treasury
bonds conference held earlier this week that the scale of treasury
bonds market was expanding fast in China, with more and more
investment attracted into the growing market, and gave strong
support to the Chinese economy.
China will maintain a prudent fiscal policy next year, according
to the key Central Economic Work Conference held at the
end of last year.
"As one part of the prudent fiscal policy, China would narrow
its fiscal deficit and cut the volume of treasury bonds issued for
long-term construction projects this year", said Chinese Financial
Minister Xie Xuren at the national financial work
conference last month.
The central government capital spending will focus on improving
production and living conditions in rural areas, environmental
protection and supporting infrastructure projects.
China's central fiscal deficit was set at 245 billion yuan for
2007, down 50 billion yuan from 2006, and treasury bond issues
intended for long-term construction projects were set at 50 billion
yuan in 2007, down 10 billion yuan from 2006.
"The government should enhance the scientific planning and
innovation in issuing Treasury bonds and improve the synergy
effects with the monetary policy in the future," added Zhang.
China's central bank announced on Jan. 16 it would raise the
required reserve ratio for commercial banks by half a percentage
point on Jan. 25.
The ratio would be raised to 15 percent, the highest since 1984,
part of the stringent monetary policy. This was to siphon excess
liquidity from banks and curb the overly-fast growth of credit
against the backdrop of the country's foreign exchange reserve that
had reached 1.53 trillion US dollars by the end of 2007, up 43.32
percent from a year earlier.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)
