Banking News
- US$40b to be injected into indebted AgBank
Date: 6-Aug-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
THE government is set to inject US$40 billion into Agricultural Bank of China (AgBank) in a move that would lead to the debt-laden State lender eventually being listed on the stock market, a domestic newspaper reported.
The money would come from the country's yet-to-be-formed overseas investment agency that will manage part of China's US$1.33 trillion foreign exchange reserves, the Economic Observer said in a report Saturday.
The State Council and NPC committee have approved the issue of 1.55 trillion yuan (US$200 billion) of special bonds to finance the setting up of the agency, which would in turn use the proceeds to buy foreign exchange reserves from the central bank.
Citing unidentified sources, the Economic Observer said the future foreign investment agency would use US$65 billion to take over Central Huijin, the central bank's investment arm that would conduct the planned US$40 billion injection into AgBank.
AgBank is the only big State-owned lender yet to be bailed out by the government. Press reports have said the bank could float shares as early as 2008.
The government has injected a total of US$60 billion into the nation's other three banking giants -- Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank.
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