Only a week after releasing its Green and Blue Bond Framework CABEI issues its first ever Blue Bond

Tegucigalpa, December 19, 2022. - The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has successfully launched its inaugural dual-tranche blue bond denominated in Australian dollars and Japanese yen to finance eligible projects under its recently released Green and Blue Bond Framework.

CABEI’s Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi stated that “It’s very encouraging that only a week after announcing the release of our Green and Blue Bond Framework we were able to execute our first transaction of many more to come given the considerably high demand we have generated for this type of instrument. As such, I am confident that CABEI’s position as the main provider of climate solutions for the Central American region will continue to evolve as new instruments become available.

Our institution has historically issued more than US$2 billion in ESG bonds, which represent about 32% of our total outstanding issuances; and with our new Blue Taxonomy, we will be able to channel additional resources to finance eligible projects under categories such as: Water Resource Protection, Sustainable Water Management, Renewable Energy, Blue Economy and Nature Protection.”

The blue bond raised the equivalent of approximately US$93 million from international investors under a dual-tranche structure, arranged by Daiwa Capital Markets America, consisting of a AUD30 million five-year 4.40% Fixed Rate Note and a JPY10 billion five-year 0.562% Fixed Rate Note.

CABEI’s Green and Blue Bond Framework has a favorable second party opinion (SPO) from Sustainalytics who believes that: “the Framework is aligned with the overall sustainability strategy of the Bank and that the green and blue use of proceeds categories will contribute to the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.”

Finally, President Mossi emphasized the importance and resilience of CABEI’s "AA" ratings, which allows for a highly diversified funding base and an uninterrupted access to the international capital markets, even in times of global financial turmoil.