The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) plans to invest up to $500 million in green bonds as part of its sustainable central banking agenda, according to BSP Governor Medalla.
Bankero and BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla stated that they could do this sometime in 2023, depending on market opportunities and events.
The BSP invests in green bonds as part of its sustainability efforts and its sustainable central banking agenda and has already invested $550 million in the Bank for International Settlements’ Green Bond Fund.
The central bank initially invested $150 million in 2019 and placed another $200 million in 2020 and 2021.
However, due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, which led to higher global and local inflation, the BSP sold its US dollar reserves to defend the peso against the strong US dollar, leading to no investment in green bonds in 2022.
Meanwhile, the governor asaid that the central bank plans to become a signatory to the United Nation Principles for Responsible Investment and develop a Responsible Investment Charter to integrate sustainability tests with financial assessments.
The BSP introduced its 11-point sustainable central banking strategy in January 2023 to promote sustainable finance and adherence to the same standards as supervised financial institutions.
