MNI BRIEF: PBOC Launches New Board For Tech Bond Issuance
MNI (BEIJING) - The People’s Bank of China will launch a technology board in the bond market in a bid to further increase financial support for tech innovation, said PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng at a press conference during the National People's Congress on Thursday.
Authorities will support financial institutions including banks and securities companies to issue such bonds to increase their funding capacity for tech-related loans, bond and equity investments. Mature tech firms can issue medium- and long-term bonds for their R&D, along with investment and merger & acquisitions, while leading private equity investment or venture capital institutions could issue long-term bonds to drive more funds to tech startups.
The PBOC will also expand the scale of re-lending for tech innovation and transformation to up to CNY1 trillion from the previous CNY500 billion, while lowering the re-lending rate and expanding the scope of the tool, Pan added. (See MNI: PBOC To Buoy Assets, As Stocks, Property Added To Mandate)