The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is an anchor investor in Georgia’s first sustainability bond, a US$20 billion issuance by BasisBank to finance green and social sector projects.
The Georgian bank sold the three-year bond carrying a fixed interest rate of 7% to the ADB and a group of private investors.
The ADB invested $15 million as an anchor investor, the Philippines-based multilateral development bank says in a statement on August 9.
According to Suzanne Gaboury, the ADB’s private sector director general, the issuance “will deepen Georgia’s capital market by increasing awareness of thematic bonds that adhere to international standards while funding green and social projects”.
The offering complies with sustainability bond guidelines of the Zurich-based International Capital Market Association.
“Sustainability bonds help bridge financing gaps and achieve their sustainable and inclusive growth goals while supporting sound capital management by the private sector,” Gaboury says.
BasisBank is the fourth largest bank in Georgia, with 39 branches and around 200,000 customers.