China’s SPBs Issuance Slows in First Quarter From Pandemic-fueled Spending Spree

China’s local governments issued fewer special-purpose bonds (SPBs) in the first quarter compared with previous years. This was due to the large number of issuances needed to cope with the impact of the pandemic in previous years, the fall in capital demand for local construction projects and bond market interest rates, the Ministry of Finance said.

The ministry has worked hard to improve the quality of projects backed by the special-purpose bond and strengthened project preparation, ensuring the scale of issuance throughout the year is in line with expectations, Wang Jianfan, the head of budget department at the Finance Ministry said Monday at a press conference.