MNI China Press Digest Nov 19: Yuan, Hidden Debt, Green Credit

The following lists highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• The yuan's "two-way fluctuation" is normal and the currency may both appreciate and depreciate, according to a statement dated from the PBOC's WeChat account, following a meeting of the forex industry self-regulatory body. The currency faces a "complicated and changing" global financial situation as the central bank of the main economy adjusts its monetary policy, the PBOC said. The PBOC seeks a "reasonable and balanced" goal of the yuan's movement and will use the right amount of adjustment, it said. Businesses and banks shall not speculate on the yuan's exchange rates, it said.
• The Saihan district of China's Hohhot city in Inner Mongolia province was found to have misused CNY125 million urban renewal funding to pay its hidden debt, the 21st Century Business Herald reported citing an audit by the central government. The case reflects the growing fiscal pressure of local authorities in China, the newspaper said. Saihan's budget report disclosed CNY3.3 billion outstanding debt at the end of 2020, though it didn't disclose the amount of hidden debt, the newspaper said. Local authorities are pressured by declining revenue as the central government implements tax-reduction policies, and due to heavy reliance on incomes from land sales, the Herald said.
• China should boost lending to clean energy, lower the cost for green bond issuance and develop green insurance products, the Economic Daily reported. Outstanding clean-energy loans totaled CNY3.79 trillion by Sept. 30, less than 27% of total green lending, the Daily said. Financial support for green building, clean transportation and renewable energy should be further increased so to promote the green transformation of key industries, the newspaper said citing PBOC Deputy Governor Liu Guiping. Green insurance products urgently need to be developed, and the relatively small scale of green bonds has kept the issuance rates high, the newspaper said.