Singapore's yuan deposits total 200b

SINGAPORE - The yuan deposits in Singapore stood at 200 billion yuan ($32.6 billion) at the end of last year, up 70 percent over March last year.

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It was revealed by Leong Sing Chiong, Assistant Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank, in a speech to a conference on offshore yuan markets here on Thursday.

Leong said during the same period, yuan-denominated loans, mostly trade financing, grew by almost 25 percent to over 300 billion yuan ($48.9 billion). Based on SWIFT data, Singapore accounted for about 60 percent of yuan trade finance outside China's mainland and Hong Kong, Leong added.

The Singapore branch of China's ICBC was designated as the yuan clearing bank in Singapore by China's regulator earlier last year. It kicked off yuan clearing services on May 27.

Leong said since the launch of the yuan market in Singapore, there were totally six "Lion City" bond issued here, with a total value of 7.5 billion yuan ($1.22 billion).

In November 2013, ICBC Singapore sold 2 billion yuan ($326 million) "Lion City" bond. In February, the Singapore branch of the Bank of China issued 3 billion yuan ($489 million) "Lion City" bond.

"These Lion City bond were very well subscribed, and saw strong demand among investors in Singapore, as well as the region," Leong said.

Leong said they have seen strong yuan deposit growth fuelled by regional treasury centers of multinational corporations here.

"This reflects increasing acceptance by exporters to China, such as the international commodity traders based in Singapore and the region, to accept payments denominated in yuan," he added.

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