Moody's cuts 2020 green bond sales outlook due to COVID-19

Moody's Investors Service has lowered its outlook for global green bond issuance in 2020 to as much as USD 225 billion (EUR 208.3bn) after activity was hit by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

The credit rating agency now expects the overall volume of green bonds that will be placed this year to range between USD 175 billion and USD 225 billion, as compared to an earlier forecast of USD 300 billion. The downward revision was triggered by the drop in issuance during the first quarter of the year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and its effects on the economy.

According to Moody’s latest report, published on Tuesday, first-quarter green bond volumes fell by 49% on a sequential basis to USD 33.9 billion.

Moody’s reiterated its USD-100-billion forecast for social and sustainability bonds, given an increased market focus on coronavirus response efforts. The higher demand for the issuance of such financial instruments is mainly led by multilateral development banks to tackle the COVID-19 consequences.

"Greater emphasis on social finance and sustainable development will likely be one of the lasting outcomes of the coronavirus crisis," said Matthew Kuchtyak, AVP-Analyst at Moody's.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.926)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!