The Central People’s Government will issue sovereign bonds worth six billion yuan (7.19 billion patacas) in Macau on Thursday next week, the Ministry of Finance in Beijing and the local government announced yesterday.
The Macao Government Information Bureau (GCS) issued a statement outlining details of the upcoming offer.
The value of the renminbi-denominated sovereign bonds to be issued in Macau this year will remain unchanged from last year. “Renminbi” (“people’s currency”) is the official name of the nation’s legal tender, commonly referred to as the “yuan.”
Next Thursday’s issuance will mark the sixth issuance of sovereign bonds by the Central People’s Government in Macau. The first issuance took place in July 2019, followed by the second in September 2022, the third in September 2023, the fourth in October 2024, and the fifth in July last year.
The Ministry of Finance issued sovereign bonds worth two billion yuan in Macau in 2019 and three billion yuan in 2022. The value increased to five billion yuan in 2023, remained at five billion yuan in 2024, and rose to six billion yuan last year.
Yesterday’s GCS statement noted that the local government welcomes the central government’s decision to issue renminbi-denominated sovereign bonds in Macau once again, marking the fifth consecutive year of sovereign bond issuances in the city.
The statement underlined that the continuous issuance of sovereign bonds highlights the central government’s strong support for the development of Macau’s bond market and the city’s broader strategy for appropriate economic diversification.
Furthermore, the statement noted that the continuous issuance will provide investors with secure and stable renminbi-denominated options, improve the local financial ecosystem, and enhance connections between Macau’s bond market and both Chinese mainland and international markets.
It added that the ongoing programme will attract more high-quality issuers and international investors to Macau, leveraging the city’s strategic advantages in the nation’s opening-up while helping Macau better integrate into and serve the overall national development.
As with the previous four years, this year’s sovereign bond offering will be restricted exclusively to professional investors. By contrast, the two billion yuan offering in 2019 comprised 1.7 billion yuan allocated to institutional investors and 300 million yuan in retail bonds offered to the Macau public.
This photo taken from Small Taipa Hill earlier this year shows the Macau peninsula’s skyline. – Photo: Tony Wong
