On June 16, 2020, the New Development Bank (NDB) priced its inaugural benchmark USD 1.5 billion 3-year COVID Response Bond in the international capital markets.
The net proceeds from the Bond issue will be used to finance sustainable development activities in the NDB’s member countries, including emergency assistance loans to the Bank’s member countries. Such emergency loans could be used to finance direct expenses related to the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak or provide support to governmental measures contributing to economic recovery in the member countries of the NDB.
The transaction met exceptional high-quality investor support, with strong participation from central banks and official institutions, which represented 75% of allocations. The investor geographic distribution of the final Bond book was as follows: 56% – Asia, 29% – EMEA, 15% – Americas.
The robust investor demand allowed the NDB to tighten the pricing by 7 basis points compared to the upper bound of initial price thoughts and to achieve the coupon rate of 0.625%.
