Finance Ministry fails to meet bond sales target

China’s Finance Ministry sold only RMB23.4 billion (US$3.8 billion) worth of two-year bonds in a Friday auction, falling short of its RMB26 billion goal, The Wall Street Journal reported. It was the second incomplete auction in just over a month. The main buyers of Chinese government debt are banks and they have grown increasingly short of cash as a series of mini-stimulus measures by Beijing has pushed them to focus more on lending to companies. Analysts also speculate that signs of improving economic growth have turned investors away from the safety of bond markets into higher-yielding assets.