THE Ministry of Finance said yesterday that it would start issuing the first electronic savings bonds of the year starting on May 16. The three-year e-savings bond issue, which could be as large as 30 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion), has a fixed annual interest rate of 5.74 percent.

The issue will end on May 31, with interest to be calculated from May 16 and paid annually, said the ministry in a statement on its Website. The bond will be sold at branches of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, and six other banks. Only individual investors can buy these bonds, the ministry said. The first such bonds were issued in June 2006.