Money

Agricultural policy bank to issue $60b in bonds

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-11 09:19

JINAN - Agricultural Development Bank of China, a State-owned agricultural policy bank, plans to issue 400 billion yuan ($60.6 billion) in bonds in 2011, the bank's vice president said on Thursday.

The amount represents an increase of 43 percent compared with 280 billion yuan issued in bonds last year, said Ding Jie, the bank's vice president.

"As it is getting harder for the bank to increase deposits, the bank decided to sell more bonds to raise capital," he added.

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Bonds accounted for 53 percent of the bank's capital structure by the end of 2010.

The bank plans to issue 210 billion yuan in new loans in 2011, the same as last year.

"The central government demanded financial institutions give stronger support to rural development. That's why we keep the loan plan unchanged," said Ding.

About 100 billion yuan of the loans will go to rural water facilities and countryside construction projects, according to Ding.