UK to become first Western state to issue renminbi bond - Osborne

LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Britain will become the first Western government to issue an offshore bond in renminbi, finance minister George Osborne said on Friday.

"I can now announce that the UK government intends to be the first national government outside of China to issue a bond in China's currency," said Osborne, speaking at a meeting in London with Chinese vice premier Ma Kai.

"We have issued bonds in U.S. dollars before. Now (NYSE: DNOW - news) we will issue a bond in renminbi."

The bond - which would be similar in size to a 2-billion renminbi bond issued in London by China Development Bank - is expected to be issued before the end of the year and will be used to finance the government's reserves of foreign currency, the finance ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by David Milliken, writing by Andy Bruce, editing by William Schomberg)