Taiwan asks local insurers to consider buying long-term government bonds

Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is asking local insurers to actively evaluate the possibility of buying long-term government bonds as slackening demand for debt undermines the state's spending plans, two people with direct knowledge of the request said on Thursday. The FSC's move comes as Taiwan's bonds have sold off amid a global bonds rout in the wake of Republican Donald Trump's US presidential election victory last week.
According to the FSC's letter to insurance companies, seen by the two sources, demand for 30-year bonds from local insurers has softened this year, making it difficult for the government to meet budgeted long-term financing goals and bankroll infrastructure projects.