The government will issue a sovereign green bond that will help in the financing of climate mitigation and adaptation projects.
While making the announcement, Acting Prime Minister and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the bond issue follows an overwhelming interest recorded in the week-long tender that showed the floated amount of $40 million been significantly oversubscribed.
Sayed-Khaiyum says a total of $87.71 million worth of tenders were received for the 5 years and 13 years terms.
He says $60.10 million was received for the 5 year bond and a total of $27.61 million was received for the 13 year bond.
The Acting Prime Minister says government noted that commercial banks that do not normally invest in bonds put in a combined tender amounting to $40 million.
Sayed-Khaiyum says there will be significant issues in the coming months from December 2017 to May 2018 in order to raise that targeted amount of $100 million.
He says the government has a third party validation system that looks specifically at the funds that are raised and where the funds are spent for the specific purpose that the green bond had actually been issued for in the first place.
Fiji has become the first emerging market to issue a sovereign green bond after it raised $100 million to finance climate mitigation and adaptation projects.
The green bond will primarily be used for climate resilience, but also on renewable energy projects supporting the nation’s commitment to reduce carbon emission from the energy sector by 30% by 2030.
