(ATF) – The Bank of China says it has completed the issuance and pricing of 5 billion yuan (US$714 million) of special “social responsibility bonds” to help deal with the Covid-19 outbreak. The two-year bonds were issued in Hong Kong dollars and Macau patacas with interest rates of 1.95% and 1.90%, respectively.
These are the first anti-epidemic bonds issued on an overseas market, and the first overseas bonds issued by a Chinese institution to obtain third-party social responsibility certification.
The funds raised from the bonds will be used for loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises in Macau to protect local SMEs’ emergency financing needs, to support small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the epidemic and promote a stable recovery in the local economies in these areas.
Since the outbreak, Bank of China has strengthened financial support, and helped private small-, medium- and micro-enterprises, and individual industrial and commercial enterprises via new loans with preferential interest rates, deferred repayment of principal and interest payments, renewal of loans, and interest reduction to help resume work and production.
