Hong Kong’s Paul Chan brushes aside concerns over undersubscribed infrastructure bond

Hong Kong’s finance chief has sought to shore up public confidence in the city’s fiscal health, brushing aside concerns over retail investors’ undersubscription to a HK$20 billion (US$2.7 billion) infrastructure bond offering.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also said on Sunday that demand among institutional investors was three to four times larger than supply, while noting “capable developers” had expressed an interest in the Northern Metropolis plan.

The government earlier announced that about 128,000 retail investors had subscribed to only HK$17.85 billion worth of infrastructure bonds during the offering period, which launched on November 26 and wrapped up on Friday.

“The government bonds usually target institutional investors … and this time subscriptions from institutional investors are three to four times larger than the supply,” Chan told a radio programme.

“So the amount of bonds we need to raise this year is not a cause for concern at all.”

The finance minister also attributed the undersubscription among retail investors to the IPO market becoming more attractive recently, as more high-quality companies had settled in Hong Kong and brought in more investment options.