The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is issuing a tender of Rmb60 billion ($8.2 billion) worth of six-month bills in Hong Kong on January 15, for settlement on January 17, according to a PBOC announcement.
A total of Rmb60 billion six-month bills will be made available for competitive tender on a coupon bid basis by any qualified members of Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) through the CMU BID. The bills will be issued at par value in what will amount to the largest offshore Rmb auction on record and will boost demand for the currency to help bring stability.
The move comes as the Rmb comes under pressure against the US dollar with higher for longer interest rates expected in the US and uncertainty over impending tariffs on Chinese goods from the incoming Donald Trump administration, which starts on January 20.
In February 2023, the PBOC issued two sets of bills worth a total of US$25 billion in Hong Kong.
The latest bills will mature on the interest payment date falling on or nearest to July 18, 2025. The bills will bear interest at the uniform annual issue interest rate determined through the competitive tender (i.e. the highest accepted interest rate for the bills). Interest on the bills is payable on July 18, 2025 in arrear, subject to the modified following business day convention.
Each tender must be for an amount of Rmb500,000 or integral multiples thereof and the difference between any specified tender interest rates should be at least 0.01%, rounded to two decimal places.
For more information, please click here for the tender memorandum.
