China issues 895.1b yuan in local gov't bonds in Q1

BEIJING -- China's local governments have issued 895.1 billion yuan (about $137.85 billion) worth of bonds in the first quarter of this year, official data showed.

Of the total, special bond issuance came in at 374.1 billion yuan in the first three months while the issuance of general bonds amounted to 521 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

In March alone, local government bond issuance reached 477.1 billion yuan, with the issuance of special bonds hitting 198.3 billion yuan.

MOF data also showed local government bonds were issued at an average issuance term of 7.7 years in March and at an average interest rate of 3.44 percent.

By the end of March, China's outstanding local government debt stood at around 26.2 trillion yuan, within the official limit of 33.28 trillion yuan for this year, the ministry said.