China ponders unprecedented bond sales

The Chinese Ministry of Finance is pondering permission to local governments to sell 1.5 trillion yuan of special bonds in the second half of this year, an unprecedented acceleration of infrastructure funding to shore up the country’s beleaguered economy.

The news adds strength to the recent risk-on mood and helps AUD/USD prices to consolidate losses at the multi-month low. The risk barometer pair was last seen picking up bids around 0.6850.

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It would mark the first time the issuance has been fast-tracked in this way, underscoring growing concerns in Beijing over the dire state of the world’s second-largest economy.

The bond sales would be brought forward from next year’s quota, according to people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The proposal to adjust that timeline would therefore need to be reviewed by the State Council and might also need approval from the country’s legislative body, the National People’s Congress.

Each year local governments receive a quota for how many general and special bonds they can sell. Until 2018 provinces and cities would wait for the NPC meeting in March to officially approve that quota before they started selling the bonds, meaning the money wouldn’t be spent until much later in the year.

By the end of June, most of those bonds were sold, meaning there’s space in the second half of the year to sell more debt if the government wants to.

The government’s growth target for 2022 is looking increasingly challenging amid Covid resurgences and a property downturn. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the economy will grow 4.1% this year.