China Local Government Debt CNY15.86 Trillion at End June Vs CNY 15.32 Trillion at End 2016

China's local government debt inched higher, signaling risks are under control due to Beijing's efforts to prevent governments from raising large amounts of funds, an official said Friday.

Outstanding local government debt stood at 15.86 trillion yuan ($2.35 trillion) as of June 30, slightly higher than 15.32 trillion yuan at the end of last year and below this year's ceiling of 18.82 trillion yuan, said Liu Wei, a vice finance minister, at a briefing.

Beijing has rolled out a slew of measures, including setting debt ceilings for local governments, to rein in a rapid debt buildup. It also overhauled local government financing vehicles, which were debt-raising entities for local governments, into state-owned companies.

Since 2015, the government has also been trying to ease local governments' debt burden through a debt-for-bond swap program, allowing localities to repay old debt by issuing new bonds.

Write to Grace Zhu at grace.zhu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2017 04:43 ET (08:43 GMT)