The process of Portugal issuing public debt in the Chinese market by means of Panda bonds or debt contracted by foreign entities in Chinese currency is in its final phase, Finance Minister Mário Centeno recently stated.
The Portuguese government hopes to raise up to 380 million euros (nearly 3 billion yuan) in bonds in Chinese currency, an operation that has been worked on for more than a year, following the finance minister’s visit to Beijing in May 2017.
In September of that year Portugal announced the issue of public debt in Chinese currency and named the Bank of China, HSBC and Portugal’s state bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos to work on issuing the Panda bonds authorized by Beijing. On that occasion Minister Mário Centeno announced that the bonds to issue would have a maturity of five years.
Portugal has become one of the main destinations of Chinese investment in Europe, with Chinese companies acquiring significant parts of EDP Energias de Portugal, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) and the Fidelidade insurance company, for example.
Last May the state group China Three Gorges launched a bid to take shareholding control of the groups EDP Energias de Portugal and EDP Renováveis. If it succeeds, that operation will require a financial effort of more than 10 billion euros. MDT/Macauhub
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