National Bank of Canada allowed to issue bonds in China's interbank market

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's central bank said the National Bank Of Canada has been given approval to issue up to 5 billion yuan ($749.7 million) of yuan-denominated bonds in China's interbank bond market. The People's Bank of China gave the information in a statement posted on its website on Friday, noting the development would further financial cooperation between China and Canada and deepen the trade relationship. Panda bonds, or yuan-denominated bonds sold by foreigners on the mainland, kicked off in 2005, and issuance is expected to exceed that of dim sum bonds, or yuan-denominated bonds sold in the offshore market, for the first time this year. Analysts partially attribute this to cheaper onshore funding costs that are expected to continue as Beijing keeps monetary conditions loose to support its sluggish economy. Sales of panda bonds totaled 29 billion yuan as of early July this year, more than double what was raised in the whole of 2015, according to JPMorgan. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Nick Macfie)