China's outstanding foreign debt fell by $51.7 billion in the first quarter to $1.36 trillion, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday, as local firms repay their dollar liabilities amid expectations that the yuan will depreciate further. Foreign debt at end-March fell 3.6 percent from the end of 2015, after a 3.8 percent drop in the fourth quarter, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said on its website.
The SAFE said in a separate statement that it expected the size of China's foreign debt to stabilise, and it would take steps to prevent risk from abnormal cross-border capital flows.
"Overall, the rate of decline in China's outstanding foreign debt slowed by the end of the first quarter with risk of repayment under control," it said. Short-term foreign debt stood at $849.1 billion at end-March, accounting for 62 percent of total debt and down about 8 percent from the end of last year, the regulator said. Medium- and long-term debt, which made up 38 percent of the total, rose 4 percent from the end of last year, it said.
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