Singapore’s Green-Finance Hub Target Gets a $2 Billion Boost
Singapore’s Green-Finance Hub Target Gets a $2 Billion Boost
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore pledged more incentives to encourage green lending, measures that may propel its way in a race to be a global sustainable-financing hub.
The city-state will launch a $2 billion green investments program, according to Monetary Authority of Singapore board member Ong Ye Kung.
The central bank’s funds will go to projects with a “strong green focus,” and to “asset managers who are committed to deepening green finance activities and capabilities in Singapore,” Ong said in a speech at a conference Monday. Click here for more details
MAS estimates that Southeast Asian nations will need $200 billion of investments every year until 2030 in projects that benefit the environment and have low carbon footprints. Three years ago, the central bank launched a project that offers grants of up to S$100,000 ($73,464) to help companies fund reviews of their bond offerings to see if they comply with green financing guidelines.
As part of the green investments program, MAS will also allocate $100 million to the Bank for International Settlements’s Green Bond Fund, Ong said.
--With assistance from Melissa Cheok.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ameya Karve in Mumbai at akarve@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Monahan at amonahan@bloomberg.net, Ken McCallum
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