HindustanTimes.com

Saturday, September 6, 2003

China foreign debt rises at the end of June

Reuters
Beijing, September 6

China said on Saturday that its foreign debt at the end of June had risen
8.3 per cent over the end of 2002, reversing a modest decline last year.
Foreign debt was $182.6 billion at the end of June, up about $14 billion
from the end of 2002, the International Business Daily said.

It was up about $13.5 billion compared with the end of June 2002.
Last year, China trimmed foreign debt by about $1.6 billion.

The newspaper, published by the Ministry of Commerce, gave no reason for the
rise in the first half this year.

China's ratio of foreign debt to gross domestic product was still under the
international warning mark of 20 per cent. China generated about 10.2
trillion yuan ($1.23 trillion) in GDP last year, and growth is on track to
top eight per cent this year.

Its short-term debt is also dwarfed by swelling foreign exchange reserves,
which were about $357 billion at the end of July.

Of the end-June figure, medium- and long-term debt was $118.4 billion, up
$2.8 billion, or 2.4 per cent, from the end of last year, the newspaper
said.

Short-term debt at the end of June had jumped $11.2 billion, or 21 per cent,
over the end of 2002 to total $64.2 billion, it said.

China has generally kept a tight lid on foreign debt, especially short-term
debt, to control financial risks as it moves cautiously ahead with
market-oriented economic reforms.

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