The central government will issue renminbi-denominated bonds with a face value of 3 billion yuan (3.51 billion patacas) in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) next Wednesday, the MSAR government said in a statement yesterday.
The issuance is a crucial initiative by the central government to continuously support Macau in developing modern finance and to facilitate the MSAR’s appropriate economic diversification, according to a notification jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance (MIF) in Beijing and the MSAR government.
The move is aimed at offering a fresh investment option for professional investors, which will not only reinforce cooperation in financial services between the mainland and Macau, but also attract a greater number of bond issuers and international investors to participate in Macau’s bond market development, said the notification.
The issuance of the renminbi bonds will also help revitalize Macau’s offshore renminbi market and promote the progress of the internationalization of the renminbi as a currency, according to the notification.
Macau’s pataca is directly pegged to the Hong Kong dollar (HK$1=1.03 pataca) and indirectly, through the HK dollar-pataca peg, to the US dollar (US$1=8.08 patacas).
The pataca is Macau’s sole legal tender.
– Xinhua, MPD
