International diamond watchdog due in Zimbabwe

HARARE, May 27 (Xinhua) -- A team from the Kimberley Process, an international diamond trade watchdog, is due in Zimbabwe shortly to audit operations of the local industry, officials said on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe's diamond industry has come under international spotlight in recent years, in particular over suspected illegal mining and smuggling of the precious gems at Chiadzwa in Marange, according to local media New Ziana.

There were also suspicions and allegations that security forces deployed in Marange to secure the diamond deposits had killed scores of illegal panners, heightening calls for an international probing into the local industry.

Government critics joined the fray, and tried to prod the Kimberley Process to order a ban on Zimbabwe diamond trade. Officials said it was against this background that the team from the Kimberley Process, drawn from countries such as Canada, Namibia, South Africa and the United States, was visiting Zimbabwe.

But earlier claims of diamond smuggling at River Ranch Mine inBeitbridge were dismissed by another Kimberley Process team in 2007.

The new team, which is expected in Zimbabwe either later this week or next week, was expected to visit all the country's three diamond mines - River Ranch, Murowa and Chiadzwa to inspect their operations.

"We are ready for them. This will put all the speculation to rest," an official, who declined to be named on account of the sensitivity of the issue, was quoted as saying.

Zimbabwean diamond industry has in recent years become a major component of the local mining sector, with experts predicting thatthe precious mineral and platinum will become the top foreign currency earners for the country in the near future.

The Chiadzwa deposits, for example, are the largest concentrated reserves in the world. The reserves remain largely unexploited, and the area around Chiadzwa is still to be fully explored to ascertain the extent of the deposits.

Industry sources said more diamond deposits have been found elsewhere in the country, sparking intense jostling for mining rights among local and international players.

S Korean gov't may halt capital injection into banks

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

SEOUL, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean government may stop injecting capital into the local banking system with credit crunch showing signs of improvement, local media reported Thursday.

According to South Korean financial authorities, local banks are capable of boosting their own capital by issuing bonds, new shares, or hybrid securities with progress in funding conditions, South Korea's Korea Herald reported.

Bank officials also said that they are able to raise their capital on their own, thanks to better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter, as well as improvement of Bank of International Settlements capital ratios, according to the Korea Herald.

The management committee of the recapitalization fund late last month started a review to see whether any of local banks that had previously requested for a capital injection, which would be completed by the end of this week, the media said.

"Compared to the situation during the first-phase injection earlier in the year, market conditions have greatly improved and the demand for capital injection has shrank," an official from the fund management committee said.

Local bonds of Liaoning, Tianjin set for sale

BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance is issuing 5.6 billion yuan in local government bonds Tuesday.

Three billion yuan (about 439 million U.S. dollars) in bonds will be sold on behalf of China's Liaoning Province. Another 2.6 billion yuan in bonds will be sold for the Tianjin Municipality.

The bonds will take the form of book-entry national treasury bonds and will be sold to investors between April 14 and 16. They will become tradable as of April 20 on the inter-bank market and securities exchanges, the ministry said.

The fixed coupon for the bonds of Liaoning stands at 1.75 percent. Tianjin is 1.78 percent. Interest for both will be paid annually.

China plans to float 200 billion yuan of local government bonds this year. The first batch for the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government was issued March 30.

Four other batches of bonds for local government in Anhui, Henan, Sichuan and the Chongqing Municipality, have already been sold.

Three billion yuan of the local government bonds from the eastern Shandong Province is scheduled for bidding April 15, according to the ministry. They will be issued starting April 16-20.

5.8 bln yuan local bonds of Chongqing Municipality set for sale next week

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced
Friday that it will issue a total of 5.8 billion yuan (about 849.2 million U.S.
dollars) of local government bonds on behalf of China's western Chongqing
Municipality on April 13.

The bonds, which are the fifth of its kinds in China, will take the form of
book-entry national treasury bonds and be sold to investors between April 13 and
15, and will become tradable as of April 17 on the inter-bank market and
securities exchanges, the ministry said.

The bonds have a fixed coupon of 1.7 percent, according to the bond bidding
that ended on Friday. The coupon is higher than that of the previous two batches
of bonds, with interest to be paid annually.

China plans to float 200 billion yuan of local government bonds this year.
The first batch of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government bonds was issued
on March 30.

Three more batches of local bonds will be issued in the first half of
April, said sources with China Government Securities Depository Trust and
Clearing Co. Ltd., a non-banking financial institution in charge of centralizing
depository and settlement for the inter-bank bond market.

The ministry said last month that most of the 200-billion-yuan local
government bonds would be issued during the second and third quarters this year.