The central government will issue sovereign bonds worth five billion yuan in Macau on Wednesday next week, the Ministry of Finance in Beijing and the local government has announced.
The Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) issued a two-part statement on the matter on Wednesday.
Next week’s scheduled issuance will be the fourth issuance of sovereign bonds by the central government in Macau, after the first, second and third ones in July 2019, September 2022 and September last year.
The Ministry of Finance issued sovereign bonds worth two billion yuan in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) in 2019, while bonds worth three billion yuan were issued here in 2022.
Last year, the ministry issued sovereign bonds worth five billion yuan in Macau.
Wednesday’s GCS statement said that the MSAR government welcomes the central government’s decision to issue renminbi-denominated sovereign bonds in Macau “once again”, coinciding with the 25th Anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland.
“Renminbi” (“people’s currency”) is the official name of the nation’s legal tender, informally known as “yuan”.
The statement underlined that the “continuous” issuance of sovereign bonds in Macau highlights the central government’s support for the development of Macau’s modern finance and the city’s appropriate economic diversification.
The statement said that the central government’s continuous issuance of sovereign bonds in Macau will promote the development of a bond market here, providing investors with more diverse investment options. In addition, the statement said, this will also enable Macau’s bond market to be more strongly connected with the international bond market.
The issuance of sovereign bonds in Macau will further consolidate and deepen financial cooperation between the mainland and Macau and provide investors with secure and stable investment options, the statement said.
The same as 2023 and 2022, the sovereign bonds will also only be offered to professional investors, according to the statement.
The two-billion-yuan sovereign bonds issued in Macau in 2019 comprised 1.7 billion yuan offered to institutional investors and retail bonds worth 300 million yuan offered to members of Macau’s general public.
This October 2020 file photo shows the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Beijing. – Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
