Domestic Bond Markets

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Appendix 1: Introduction

1. At the APEC Finance Ministers Meeting held on 23-24 May 1998 in Kananaskis, Canada, the Finance Ministers agreed to begin work on a new collaborative initiative on the development of domestic bond markets in the region. Hong Kong, China has agreed to co-ordinate this initiative.

2. A questionnaire (Annex 11) was sent to the 18 APEC member economies in August 1998 to review the state of domestic bond markets in APEC member economies, the potential for development and the areas of growth for domestic bond markets. It also surveys the need to enhance the financial infrastructure.

3. Sixteen returns were received from the APEC member economies (Papua New Guinea and the Philippines have not responded to the survey). In general, member economies have provided detailed information on their domestic bond markets and have given valuable opinions on the growth and development of the markets and measures to enhance the financial infrastructure. However, figures on bond holdings, and on the size of secondary markets were generally not available.

4. This report summarizes the responses from member economies. The major findings were discussed at the APEC Workshop on Development of Domestic Bond Markets held on 18 December 1998 in Hong Kong.