Ministry of Railways denies financing rumors

China’s Ministry of Railways denied rumors that it planned to raise US$126 billion (RMB800 billion) of financing this year, which earlier media reports had interpreted as an indication that Beijing may increase spending on infrastructure to prop up the economy, the South China Morning Post reported. The ministry said it does plan to issue US$37.8 billion (RMB240 billion) in bonds this year, and will receive another RMB200 billion in loans from Beijing soon. James Chung, an analyst with MasterLink Securities, said the ministry’s planned RMB240 billion of bonds issuance is 37% more than last year, and will bring the ministry near its legally permitted limit of 30% of its net asset value.  “Initially, the ministry took out a lot of bank loans,” he said. “Later, the ministry couldn’t get loans, so it had to issue a lot of bonds,” he added. In the first half of this year, the ministry’s debt stood at RMB2.1 trillion, according to a recent bond issue prospectus.