As of February 20, more than 20 provinces have successfully issued the first or first two batches of ** bonds this year. Most provinces plan to issue new bonds in the first quarter mainly special bonds.
On the whole, the relevant departments and localities have promoted a steady start to relevant work on the basis of overall consideration of financial resources, debt risk levels and development needs.
Regional differentiation is presented
According to the relevant person in charge of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, in December 2023, after the Ministry of Finance fulfilled the approval procedures in accordance with the law, it has issued part of the new local ** debt limit for 2024 to all localities in advance to support the construction of major projects, promote the formation of physical workload, and give full play to the role of local ** bonds in stimulating the economy.
Based on the issuance plans of the provinces in the first quarter, in the overall environment of the current fiscal and economic situation is generally good, but the climbing pressure is still large, the financial debt situation faced by the provinces is differentiated, and there are certain differences in the scale and structure of bond issuance. Feng Beilin, a researcher at the Financial Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, said.
Among the new bonds planned to be issued by Zhejiang in the first quarter, 158 are general bonds700 million yuan, and 120 billion yuan of special bonds. Shandong plans to issue 150 billion yuan of new bonds in the first quarter, all of which are special bonds. Sichuan plans to issue new special bonds of 120 billion yuan in the first quarter.
Experts believe that judging from the issuance plan in the first quarter, the issuance of special bonds in the eastern provinces has generally maintained a certain growth rate, reflecting that the eastern provinces still have a large demand for public infrastructure with a certain amount of profitability due to the economic recovery and large economic scale, and there is still a large space for the issuance of special bonds.
Supporting major projects
On February 5, the first batch of Anhui's 2024 local ** bonds were successfully issued in Shanghai. The issuance of new special bonds, all of which are used to support the construction of renewal projects, involving 365 projects, totaling 1853.2 billion yuan. "This year, we will give priority to supporting projects under construction and mature projects with sufficient preliminary preparations, issuing special bonds as early as possible, effectively strengthening the management of the whole process of projects, and striving to improve the efficiency of the use of bond funds. The relevant person in charge of the Anhui Provincial Department of Finance said.
Henan recently successfully issued ** bonds 5263.7 billion yuan, all of which are new bonds. Among them, 83 new general bonds3.5 billion yuan, mainly used for roads, bridges and other infrastructure construction projects; 443 new special bonds0.2 billion yuan, which will be used for the construction of 685 projects, covering key areas such as municipal and industrial park infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, ecological and environmental protection, and affordable housing projects.
Special bonds are not only an important financial tool for the implementation of macroeconomic regulation and control, but also an important means for local governments to make up for shortcomings, increase stamina, and promote the expansion of effective investment. Wang Dehua, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Financial and Economic Strategy, said that in 2023, the scale of local ** special bonds will reach 38 trillion yuan, priority will be given to supporting projects with a relatively high degree of maturity and projects under construction, focusing on key points, not "peppering", expanding the investment areas of special bonds to 11, and expanding the scope of special bonds as project capital to 15 aspects.
Synergy enhances performance
In order to improve the quality and efficiency of the management of special bonds, all localities have strengthened the exploration of practical measures. For example, Beijing has strengthened the management of the whole chain of "borrowing, management and repayment" of ** bonds, and launched the pilot work of early repayment of special bonds in 2023, saving more than 70% of interest expenses.
Many localities have accelerated the construction of a scientific, standardized and convenient maturity review mechanism for special bond projects by establishing expert databases, building review systems, and optimizing evaluation indicators. Some provinces have also strengthened the management of local ** bonds by strictly implementing the list of prohibited projects in the field of special bond funds and the punishment mechanism for the illegal use of special bonds.
It is necessary to further strengthen the management of ** bonds, especially local ** special bonds, appropriately expand the scope of special bonds to be invested and used as project capital, ensure the demand for funds for the construction of key projects, guide and drive effective social investment, and improve the efficiency of the use of bond funds. Wang Dehua said that we should pay attention to the coordination and cooperation between various policies, and do a good job in the connection between fund allocation and project implementation.
All localities should further manage and make good use of special bond funds and promote the construction of a number of major projects that benefit the present and the long-term, such as transportation, water conservancy, and energy. At the same time, for different regions, the work of local government bonds should also be emphasized. Feng Beilin believes that for areas with greater debt pressure, it is necessary to solve debt repayment funds through multiple channels and diversification. For areas with low debt risk, it is necessary to optimize the management of bond issuance, increase the physical workload, improve the efficiency of investment-driven economic growth, and promote the high-quality development of the regional economy.
This article is from: Economy**.
Author: Dong Bijuan.