At the People’s Bank of China in Beijing, regulators are trying to address the risks of the country’s hidden debt.
Photo: mark r cristino/ShutterstockChina is trying to defuse a financial time bomb that could severely damage its banking system.
Cities and provinces across the country have accumulated a massive amount of hidden debt following years of unchecked borrowing and spending.
The International Monetary Fund and Wall Street banks estimate that the total outstanding off-balance-sheet government debt is around $7 trillion to $11 trillion.
That includes corporate bonds issued by thousands of so-called local-government financing vehicles, which borrowed money to build roads, bridges and other infrastructure, or to fund other expenditures.
Organizations:
People’s Bank of China, Monetary Fund
Locations:
Beijing, China, Cities