The Asian Development Bank and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3) are looking to explore options to promote green local currency-denominated bonds to meet the region’s infrastructure development needs. Green bonds—supported within the ASEAN+3 framework—would help meet the long-term financing of the region especially in its transition to a low-carbon region. This publication highlights an assessment study of green bond markets in ASEAN+3, identifies the barriers to green bond market development, and proposes recommendations to scale up green bond markets for infrastructure development in ASEAN+3.

Emerging East Asia’s local currency government bond yield curves steepened between 29 December 2017 and 15 February 2018, reflecting the region’s positive economic outlook and expectations of rising inflation, according to the latest Asia Bond Monitor. The report also noted that the region’s overall LCY bond market continued to grow to reach USD12.3 trillion at the end of December.