We have a guarantor for our maiden panda bond sale: The African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to provide ins. coverage for USD 345 mn of our maiden USD 500 mn CNY-denominated bond issuance, the multilateral lender said yesterday.

Green pandas: The proceeds are set to be used for sustainable development projects including green transport, renewable energy and energy efficiency, water treatment, MSME financing, and healthcare, the statement reads.

We don’t know when to expect the issuance: The AfDB statement doesn’t say when the Finance Ministry expects to bring the bonds to market. A ministry official in February said it expected to issue panda bonds in early FY 2023-2024, delivering on plans first announced in 2019 which were put on hold due to the pandemic.

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