The Government has welcomed the Ministry of Finance's plan to issue US dollar sovereign bonds totalling US$2 billion in Hong Kong.
The ministry announced today US$1 billion of the bonds will be issued in five-year tenor and the remaining US$1 billion in 10-year tenor.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said this is the first issuance of US dollar sovereign bonds in the city since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
"Not only does it demonstrate the Central Government's support in reinforcing Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre, but it is also conducive to the development of (the) local bond market.
"Currently, a person is exempted from the payment of profits tax in respect of sums received by or accrued to the person as interest or profits arising from the renminbi sovereign bonds issued by the Central Government in Hong Kong.
"We will study to extend the scope of the profits tax exemption to cover non-renminbi (including US dollar) sovereign bonds issued by the Central Government in Hong Kong."
It is the second time this year for the ministry to issue sovereign bonds in Hong Kong. The first batch of sovereign bonds totalling RMB7 billion was issued in June.
