Kazakh sovereign fund issues Central Asia’s first panda bond in ‘milestone’ sale

A leading sovereign wealth fund from Central Asia has cast a vote of confidence in Chinese debt and the country’s currency by becoming the first institution from the region to sell yuan-denominated debt, known as panda bonds, in China’s onshore market.The decision by Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, to sell 3 billion yuan (US$440 million) in China’s interbank market comes as global investors are looking for safe havens amid geopolitical uncertainties such as the Iran war.The three-year bond was priced at a “record-low” annual yield of 2.18 per cent, the fund said in a news release issued on Monday, noting that reflected the high level of confidence among Chinese institutional investors.