The coronavirus crisis has been a wrecking ball for economies and markets. As governments throw money at the problem, however, demand has arisen for the hitherto largely neglected ‘social bond’ – in this case, Covid-19 response bonds. The debt capital markets (DCM) and sustainability teams at BNP Paribas have been very active in the first wave of these surprisingly popular instruments.
At the start of this year, before the health crisis really began to bite, market conditions for sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) bond issuance were particularly strong, says Jamie Stirling, global head of SSA DCM at BNP Paribas.
