Offshore RMB bond issuance likely to boom this year: DBS

OFFSHORE renminbi (RMB) bond issuance is likely to boom this year driven by strong policy support, continued cash crunch in the mainland and a huge amount of refinancings expected this year, said a DBS banker.

"It can easily cross RMB350-400 billion (S$72-82 billion), markets permitting," said Clifford Lee, DBS Bank head of fixed income yesterday at a press conference on the offshore RMB bond market.

In the first two months of this year, offshore RMB bond issuance including CDs was 107 billion yuan against 263 billion yuan for the whole of last year, according to Bloomberg.