MNI China Press Digest Feb 23:Money Policy, Bond, Bill Finance

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Tuesday:

• China's monetary policy needs to be more prudential given the fast-rising macro-leverage ratio ,which increased to 270.1% last year, and the risk of imported inflation, the Economic Information Daily commented on its frontpage. The government should steadfastly promote yuan globalization as the U.S. dollar's expected depreciation, due to its easing policies, endangers China's foreign reserves, the Daily said. China has taken precautionary measures, such as potentially allowing individuals to purchase foreign securities, to deal with the potential spillover effects of monetary easing in other countries, it added.
• China's Ministry of Finance has ordered a thorough monitoring of the use of local government special purpose bonds through better data collection, focusing on project preparation, construction, operations and income, the 21st Century Business Herald reported citing sources. As of Dec. 31 last year, there were CNY12.9 trillion outstanding special-purpose bonds, far exceeding the corresponding fund revenue of CNY9 trillion allocated to service these debts, the newspaper said. Many problems were uncovered in project reserves, reporting and issuance, fund spending and disclosures, the Herald said.
• The continued rise of interest rates on commercial bill financing in China this year reflected stronger demand for finance by corporates, banks' tightening loan quotas, and may eventually drive up loan rates, the China Securities Journal said in an editorial. A six-month benchmark rate on bill financing surged to the highest since December 2018, the newspaper said citing Wind data. The higher borrowing costs indicate quickening economic activities, in line with other data such as blast furnace operations, the export container price index and automobile purchases, as well as other debt financing activities, the Journal said.
• Chinese central authorities have urged local governments to promote green agriculture, industry and services, improve the recyclability of resources, and build a green supply chain, according to new State Council guidelines on a lower-carbon emission economy published by Xinhua News Agency. China will establish a low-carbon multimodal transport and logistic system, enhance garbage classification and resource recycling, and build up a green trading system under the One Belt One Road initiative, it said. China also plans to expand R&D in green technology and the applications of tech innovation, and develop sound market, law and taxation systems in supporting green economic development, Xinhua reported.