Philippine companies have raised a total of $3.8 billion in funding through the issuance of green bonds, seen by regulators as an indication of the potential of the “green and sustainability debt markets” in the Philippines.
Ephyro Luis Amatong, Securities and Exchange commissioner, said the amount was six times more than the $639 million issued in 2018.
“Sustainability bonds accounted for $1.4 billion or 36 percent of last year’s total, up 14 times from just $100 million in 2018,” Amatong said.
“While Asean may still be a relatively small player in the global Green/Sustainability debt market — with $330 billion raised in 2019 — the rate of growth in Asean appears to show the necessary foundations for the development of such a Green/Sustainability debt market have indeed been laid, including the issuance of a clear set of guidelines for issuers to follow and which investors, both international and domestic, recognize as holistic and reliable,” he added.
Amatong noted that in the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines had seen 15 issuances worth $3.04 billion.
He said Philippine banks particularly have had notable success in this market, including Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. which has issued two sustainability bonds and one green bond totaling $742 million, of which $442 million is peso denominated.
“Bank of the Philippine Islands also issued Green bonds under the ASEAN Standards to raise $300 million and CHF100 million, with the latter transaction achieving a negative yield,” Amatong said.
State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines entered the domestic sustainability market, raising $352 million from the issuance of peso denominated green bonds in late 2019, he added.
These placed the Philippines in the league of where Asean stands Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, which have a robust green and sustainability debt market.
In 2016, there were only three green bonds outstanding in Asean worth $252 million, which has now ballooned to “at least 57 issues under the Asean Standards for Green, Social and Sustainability bonds for a total of $4 billion,” Amatong said.
