A surge in Chinese bank borrowing for environmental projects has pushed emerging market borrowers’ use of the so-called “green” bond market to match that of the developed world for the first time.
Global issuance of the bonds — whose proceeds must be used for approved projects — has reached $21bn so far this year, putting the market on course to smash the record $36bn issued last year.
But emerging markets have so far accounted for $10bn of that, according to Dealogic — more than double what they borrowed in all of last year. A $500m deal launched by India’s Axis Bank on Tuesday means issuance for the sector is virtually neck-and-neck with the $11bn of bonds sold by companies, including Apple, based in the developed world.