BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 28.The Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised nearly 14.5 million manat (about $8.5 million) in its second bond issue, Trend reports via ADB.
This is ADB's fifth gender bond issued this year in a developing member country's local currency, illustrating ADB's effort to attract impact investors to its borrowing program.
"The issue is structured as a three-year currency-linked bond with a sinking fund to mirror the amortization terms of an underlying gender loan that seeks to increase credit availability for women and agricultural workers.The bond is denominated in Azerbaijan manats but settled in US dollars, making it simpler to attract international investors", the bank notes.
The bond, which is traded on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, pays a semi-annual coupon of 6.25 percent per year. Goldman Sachs International organized the bond, which was purchased by two European institutional investors, Record Currency Management and Capitulum Asset Management.
Capitulum's Senior Portfolio Manager Theodor Kirschner commented on the acquisition, saying that it enables the company achieve its goal of acquiring access to local returns in Azerbaijan through the sustainable use of funds by a transparent transnational issuer.
Note that ADB issued gender and green bonds in Georgian lari, gender and health bonds in Mongolian togrog, gender and green bonds in Kazakh tenge, and non-thematic bonds in Azeri manat, Chinese yuan, Georgian lari, and Kazakh tenge in 2023 to support local currency operations.
ADB seeks to promote prosperity, inclusion, sustainability, and stability in Asia and the Pacific while supporting efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.