‘Too soon’ to discuss China buying more EFSF, Zhu says

It’s “too soon” for China to discuss further bond purchases from Europe’s revamped rescue fund, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters in Cannes, France, on the eve of a summit of world leaders.

While there are proposals to bolster the European Financial Stability Facility, “there are no concrete plans yet so it’s too early to talk about further investments in these tools,” Zhu said Wednesday. Zhu said the rescue fund, already part of China’s portfolio, is an “important tool” to address the sovereign debt crisis. 

European Union leaders agreed to boost the 440 billion-euro ($605 billion) fund’s firepower to 1 trillion euros last week, as part of a broader crisis-fighting package that aimed to shore up banks and provide new aid to Greece.

When the plan was announced on Oct. 27, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he planned to call Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao to discuss China contributing to Europe’s efforts to resolve the debt crisis. EFSF Chief Executive Officer Klaus Regling visited Beijing last week for talks with Chinese authorities.

The EU backed two ways of leveraging up the fund, by insuring bond sales and by creating an investment vehicle that would court outside money from public and private financial institutions and investors. Implementation details on both options may emerge this month.

Zhang Tao, director general of international department of the People’s Bank of China, said that further details need to be worked out for each of the options. “At present there’s no specific plan that people have clear understanding of,” he said.

Europe’s bailout fund is delaying a 3 billion-euro ($4.1 billion) bond sale after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s request for a referendum on the rescue pact for his country roiled markets. The EFSF is putting off the 10-year issue “due to market conditions,” according to Luxembourg- based spokesman Christof Roche. 

The fund may wait for the outcome of the Nov. 3-4 Group of 20 summit in Cannes before selling the bonds, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The EFSF, which was established in June 2010, has raised 13 billion euros from three bond issues this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its 5 billion euros of 3.375 percent notes sold in June and maturing July 2021 fell 0.5 cent to 99.85 cents, after rising for each of the past three days, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. 

(Bloomberg)