Green banking exposure at end of June 2021 reaches 5.1 billion RON

The green banking exposure increased starting with June 2015, up to 5.1 billion RON, at the end of June 2021, amounting to 4 pct of the total exposures to the non-financial sector, according to the data published by the National Bank of Romania (BNR)."The strong expansion (320 pct compared to the beginning of the period) of green exposures shows an increasing appetite of banks for green lending and for supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy," is mentioned in the document "The monitoring table of climate risks on the banking sector in Romania", published by the BNR.The green exposure was determined according to the methodology used in the Report of the NCMO (National Committee for Macro-prudential Oversight) Working Group on supporting green financing, being identified the loans granted for activities with the effect of diminishing the impact on the environment or of adapting to climate change, explains the BNR.During the entire period under review, the average green credit interest rate was lower than the average interest rate on loans in the entire sector of non-financial corporations, which may indicate that banks perceive companies and green activities as less risky than the market average.At the end of June 2021, the average interest rate on green loans was 4.22 pct, while the average interest rate on loans to non-financial corporations was 2.25 percentage points higher, or 6.47 pct."After the total number of bonds worldwide in the period 1980-2011 was 6.75 billion euros, since 2012, financing through green bonds has gained a considerable momentum, reaching from 2.23 billion euros in the reference year to 270 billion euros in 2020. At the same time, by August 2021, the sum of green bond issuances amounted to EUR 280 billion, already exceeding that for 2020, which reveals both an increase in the number and size of projects and green activities on the part of governments and companies, as well as an increasing interest in this type of instruments on the part of investors," the BNR document reads.Moreover, between 2012 and 2021, the European Union held the largest share of all green bonds issued worldwide. During this period, the share of green bonds issued in the EU varied between 36 pct (in 2016) and 68 pct (in 2014).At the same time, since 2015, the issuance of green bonds has increased in China and the United States of America, and has reached from 0.84 billion euros and 8.79 billion euros to 16.21 billion euros and 42.72 billion euros respectively, at the end of 2020.In Romania, two issues of green bonds took place on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), both in 2021, with a total value of 327 million euros, the National Bank adds.