China's local gov't bond issuance drops in September

BEIJING - China's local governments issued fewer bonds in September after a rise a month ago, official data showed.

The value of local government bonds issued in September totaled 219.6 billion yuan ($31 billion), down from 569.5 billion yuan in August, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

In the first nine months, local governments issued nearly 4.18 trillion yuan in bonds, including 2.51 trillion yuan worth of special-purpose local government bonds aimed at providing financial support for public-interest projects.

To further spur the economy, China has eased the restrictions on infrastructure construction financing, allowing local governments to use part of special-purpose bonds as project capital to support major national infrastructure projects.

Local authorities were required to accelerate bond issuance and try to complete the annual bond quota by the end of September.

MOF data also showed outstanding local government debt amounted to 21.415 trillion yuan by the end of September, below the official ceiling of 24.077 trillion yuan set for the year.