Local Govt Debt on Default Watch

Bloomberg: Now on China's Default Watch: $617 Billion in Regional Debt

While the resilience of local-government financing vehicle bonds has helped it trade at a lower yield than similarly rated corporate securities, that gap is starting to be eroded. The discount for five-year AA+ LGFV notes narrowed 6 basis points from a record high of 32 basis points in January. Total borrowing by 29 of China’s provinces surged to 16.2 trillion yuan at the end of last year, up 53 percent from 2013, according to a March 22 Bloomberg Intelligence report.