Govt issues US$3.2 bn worth of green bonds

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Thursday (July 18) announced the successful offering of about HK$25 billion (US$3.2 billion) worth of green bonds.

The bonds were denominated in renminbi (RMB), U.S. dollar and euro under the government sustainable bond program, the HKSAR government said in a statement.

The offering attracted participation from a wide spectrum of investors globally, with more than HK$120 billion equivalent in orders.

In particular, the 20-year and 30-year RMB green bonds were offered for the first time by the HKSAR government, among which the 30-year bond is also the longest tenure RMB bond offered by the HKSAR government so far, providing new benchmarks for the market.

Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan said the issuance of government green bonds is an important initiative to promote Hong Kong's low-carbon transformation and consolidate Hong Kong's development as a green and sustainable finance hub.

"Global institutional investors responded enthusiastically to the subscription of these green bonds, reaffirming our efforts on this front. The inaugural offering of the 20-year and 30-year RMB bonds helps to extend the offshore RMB yield curve, further enrich offshore RMB product offerings, and promote RMB internationalization in an orderly manner," he said.

The green bonds are expected to be settled on July 24 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.