Local bonds to be promoted abroad

LONDON (Kyodo) The government will hold seminars in Britain and Germany in October to promote the sale of local government bonds, officials said Thursday.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, which is organizing the event, will seek to facilitate local government fundraising from overseas investors through bond sales at the seminars in London on Oct. 6, in Berlin on Oct. 7 and in Frankfurt on Oct. 8, the officials said.

It will be the first time the government holds sales promotion seminars for local government bonds. It has already held similar seminars overseas to promote sales of Japanese government bonds.

The amount of outstanding local government bonds totals over ¥200 trillion, but they are mostly held by domestic investors, they said.

The ministry will outline the advantages of investing in local government bonds, such as an exemption for nonresident investors of taxes on interest income, the officials said.

Officials from the Kyoto Municipal Government and the Japan Local Government Bond Association will also participate in the seminars.