China's outstanding foreign debt stood at US$202.3 billion at
the end of March, up 4.5 percent from the same period last year,
said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on
Tuesday.
New borrowings from overseas, excluding trade credits, totaled
US$24.4 billion for the first three months of this year.
Outstanding long and medium-term liabilities were US$120.0
billion at the end of March, or nearly 60 percent of total
outstanding foreign debt. The remainder was short-term
liabilities.
The continued growth in the size of China's foreign debt was
mainly the result of factors such as rapid growth in the domestic
economy and foreign trade, according to a SAFE press release.
The interest rate differentials between Chinese and
international markets, which put persistent upward pressure on the
domestic currency, the renminbi, was a "negligible" force behind
the growth of foreign debt.
Short-term foreign debt has grown relatively fast in recent
months as domestic financial institutions increasingly preferred US
dollar loans to renminbi borrowings. But regulators have insisted
the current level of China's short-term foreign liabilities poses
no danger to its financial security, given the nation's huge
foreign exchange reserves.
(China Daily June 30, 2004)