FAN Duration will be a challenge in 2023. However, there will still be windows for longer-dated issuance. I anticipate that volume could be lower: in the past we would typically contemplate US$2-3 billion for 10-year deals but nowadays US$1 billion would be considered a good outcome. Opportunities for private placements – 15 years or longer – should still be available but these deals may be small and very specifically targeted to investors’ needs.

There is an inverted yield curve in the US dollar market so it makes more sense for fixed-rate investors focused on absolute yield to be at the shorter end. However, there are many different types of investors. One of the reasons for our recent successful seven-year US dollar global benchmark was the steepness of the SOFR [secured overnight funding rate] spread from three to seven years.

Some investors – especially bank treasuries – are more interested in the spread to SOFR than absolute yield. By targeting a particular segment of demand, we were able to achieve a larger-than-expected transaction.

We typically target an average life for new borrowings of around five years, which allows us room to manage our bond transactions.

DORE Over the past couple of years, we have chosen to focus on extending the duration of our borrowings where possible. This was primarily driven from an asset and liability perspective as our lending operations tend to be long-dated.

We have been extremely successful on this front, managing to execute 73 per cent and 95 per cent of our funding programme last year in seven-year-plus maturities for IBRD [International Bank for Reconstruction and Development] and IDA [International Development Association] respectively.

The success in extending the duration of our borrowing portfolio has now freed up space to issue more in shorter maturities than in the recent past. Some investors are going down the duration curve, which is to be expected after a protracted period of low interest rates in which many investors extended duration to pick up additional yield.

With the significant and rapid increase in interest rates, investors that do not need duration will pivot to invest in shorter maturities particularly given the current inversion of the yield curve.

However, a set of core investors – such as pension funds and insurance companies – will continue to need duration given the nature of their operations. We therefore expect to be able to execute long-dated trades – especially in the euro market, which provides the best source of duration funding. For example, in September this year we executed a very successful 15-year, €2 billion (US$2.1 billion) bond for IDA.

WEHLERT I differentiate between currencies and home markets. The euro market is KfW Bankengruppe’s home market and 10 years is our traditional benchmark maturity. Some investors continue to need this duration, especially in the liquid space. It is a question of offering these bonds at the right time, though I also agree that overall volume will be lower in volatile times.

I have no concerns about the euro market. Meanwhile, we usually issue in shorter durations in the US – less than 10 years. Beyond 10 years, we do not have a lot of need.

ROSOLOWSKA It is true that overall SSA [supranational, sovereign and agency] duration supplied this year has been lower than previously, but this is to be expected. EIB [European Investment Bank]’s maturity needs are moderate. Our annual average maturity target is typically around seven years and this is readily achievable, notwithstanding constrained demand for duration.

Euros have also traditionally been our source of duration. We managed to execute two 10-year transactions in benchmark size in euros this year, and we also did a seven-year trade in US dollars.

BRUSAS We are also not in need of very long maturities. When we do US dollar benchmark trades, they are usually in the 3-5 year bucket. We do not target 10-year US dollar benchmark deals. In euros, where we have issued in green-bond format, we have issued longer than five years – but here I’m talking about six or seven years, not 10-year funding.

We have been quite satisfied with the average maturity we can reach – including via some of the longer-dated private placements we have done.

KETTING Our core client groups – Dutch municipalities and especially the Dutch social housing associations – have a natural need for duration, and even more so with the current shape of the swap curve.
Combined with our take up in the TLTRO [targeted longer-term refinancing operations], which provided us with favourable shorter-dated funding, our activity in the international debt capital markets has focused on the longer end – 7-15 years – thereby increasing our average duration over recent years.

In 2022, we successfully issued a 15-year benchmark and two 10-year benchmarks, one in the first half and one in the second half of the year. Of course, every single deal is a balance between what we need and what investors want. We do not want to oversupply the market and it is very important to make sure our bonds are well placed. Timing is everything in this respect.

KOTAMRAJU When we implement our annual borrowing programme, we normally target average maturity of around 4-5 years. This was pretty consistent in 2022. In US dollars, we successfully issued three dual-tranche transactions, tapping into short- and long-end demand of 2-3 and 7-10 years. Euros have also been constructive in achieving duration this year, with 10- and 15-year issues, as well as Australian dollars in 10 years.

KETTING The Fed [US Federal Reserve] has made it clear it will keep rates elevated, maintain the terminal rate or peak rate of around 5 per cent and will need to observe more than a few months of weaker inflation before it believes it can cut.

It is true that the market has been involved in numerous attempts to will the Fed into a pivot, but doing so places hope above reality. The inflation we have seen has not been caused by one single impact or event but an incredible series of events, supported by low rates and plenty of Fed – and ECB – support.

For us, the key element here is that wage growth remains negative in real terms. This will continue to pile pressure on spending power and thus growth, helping slow the economy and easing inflation.

This said, the vast majority of factors that have fed into the incredible volatility we have witnessed in 2022 – including but not limited to major central bank pivots, rate hikes, the war in Ukraine, several hundred per cent increases in energy prices and ongoing stickiness in headline inflation – have already been priced in, broadly speaking. This suggests the sharp sell-off and related underperformance should not be repeated in the same order of magnitude in 2023.

DORE Even with a decline in recent US inflation numbers and a rate that is at its lowest since the start of this year, inflation remains very high – it is above the long-term average by more than 3 per cent. While the market has reacted positively to recent US inflation numbers, it is still difficult to make a prediction simply on one number.

Several structural issues will continue to put pressure on inflation. For example, supply chain disruptions that we saw over the peak COVID-19 periods are yet to be fully resolved. I was recently exploring replacing my car and was told by the dealer that delivery is expected to take 6-18 months! Demand continues to outpace supply in many key areas, so I believe inflation will continue to be a key issue going into 2023.

WEHLERT Our economists say no-one is foreseeing a change through the winter months and we will probably stick with double-digit numbers. Their prediction is that we will come out at 8.5-9 per cent for 2022.

As in many countries, a couple of relief measures are planned by the German government that could bring inflation down a little. The European Central Bank [ECB] increased rates on 27 October – so signals are not too positive at the moment. Our economists predict that we might end up at 5-6 per cent for 2023.

From the market side, the ECB has a 2 per cent target that will definitely be missed in 2023. We will have to live with higher rates for a while.

FAN The Fed has made it very clear that targeting inflation is extremely important. This means there will be an increasing focus on the data. As such, it will be more difficult for borrowers to navigate issuance windows as data surprises could shut them quite quickly.

To find a week free of data is extremely difficult and many issuers will focus on these same weeks. It is only when the data trends show rate hikes are having the desired impact that we can perhaps return to some sense of normality.

KETTING The Russian invasion of Ukraine is first of all a human tragedy, of course. No-one could have grasped that a war between sovereign nations on European territory would be possible after the experiences of the recent past on this continent. The fallout of this conflict we have seen so far is a refugee wave into Europe, food shortages around the world and a spike in energy prices.

Based on the stand-off between the parties at the moment and the coming winter, these consequences could become even greater than we are seeing now. Governments in Europe are trying to mitigate the effects of rising energy prices and we are also seeing more movement toward pan-European measures like joint energy purchases.

A European solution requires a clear strategy and time. But it is clear that member states are united in helping their citizens fight the significant increase in their energy bills. This will mean government debt issuance, and maybe also European issuance in the future, will increase and will be an extra burden on already high supply volume.

The specific consequences for BNG Bank could be increased demand for funding by our clients – municipalities and housing associations – to increase their activities in energy transition and to mitigate the effects of higher energy prices. BNG Bank stands ready to help our clients in this effort.

WEHLERT It is a special year for markets and also for KfW. We are involved in cushioning the economic consequences of the war, which includes conducting mandated transactions on behalf of the government to support systemically important energy companies.

We are doing three things with money from mandated transactions: gas replacement purchases, covering short-term liquidity requirements for margining requirements for those companies, and financing gas storage facilities in Germany for the winter. These are all credit lines that have been provided by KfW via mandated transactions.

We consider this to be bridge funding, so we are financing it mainly via money markets. Our capital markets funding volume has been increased by only €5 billion.

In future, we will have the possibility to draw lines under the economic stabilisation fund. We used this €100 billion line during pandemic times, to the tune of €35 billion. This makes perfect sense because we can ringfence our capital markets funding. Also, the spread between KfW and the government is very wide so drawing from this fund makes sense from an economic point of view as well.

ROSOLOWSKA Beyond the macro implications for markets, our funding programme and its execution have not been directly affected as such. We have, however, been committed to supporting Ukraine with initiatives on our asset side.

For example, we established an EIB solidarity package for Ukraine and we have disbursed almost €2 billion since March to help the authorities meet the most urgent needs of the population, such as food and medical supplies.

In addition, since April we have been helping countries that have welcomed refugees from Ukraine. The first allocation under this programme was to the national development bank of Poland, with a €2 billion credit facility.

All this activity is carried out in close cooperation with the European Commission [EC] and with guarantees from the EC – so there is no additional risk to EIB’s balance sheet.

With regard to assisting business and populations during the current energy crisis, the EC, along with national governments, has rolled out generous packages. EIB is focused on long-term transformation of energy systems into greener and more sustainable ones. What the war has made clear is that this transformation is now more urgent than ever – including for energy security.

Here, EIB is stepping up its commitment to financing green, sustainable energy solutions for Europe and beyond. Our Climate Bank Roadmap commits us to increasing lending to climate and environmental projects. This also includes a complete end to support of new unabated fossil fuel energy projects, including natural gas. EIB sees no trade-off between energy security and the transition to greener energy sources.

What we do on the lending side in this area is reflected on the borrowing side in the context of our green and sustainability funding. We have been stepping up our issuance in Climate Awareness Bond [CAB] and Sustainability Awareness Bond [SAB] formats.

BRUSAS Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) also has an explicit environmental mandate and has been supporting renewable energy projects for a long time. Due to the energy crisis brought on by the war in Ukraine, there is a pressing need to increase energy security and independence. The crisis should speed up the green transition in the medium and long term.

A bigger investment need in renewable energy and R&D already partially explains the significant increase in demand for NIB loans. More lending means more funding, including green bonds. The move to something more sustainable for the future is a good outcome.

FAN IADB has returned to its sustainable level of funding, which is around US$17 billion annually. In the past couple of years, IADB has had larger-than-usual funding programmes due to record lending in our region to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. However, we cannot have record lending and borrowing programmes on a continual basis.

The Russian war on Ukraine increased commodity prices and decreased global growth prospects while putting upward pressure on energy and food prices. These factors have affected Latin America and the Caribbean. IADB continues to focus on priorities such as supporting regional integration and climate change action as a means to address these challenges. IADB is the largest source of financing for the region and we will continue to provide such support.

KOTAMRAJU The Russian invasion of Ukraine is affecting economies in central and west Asia, and ordinary citizens are feeling the pinch of higher living expenses and reduced purchasing power.

An enhanced ADB emergency facility aims to help developing member countries cope with external shocks by providing countercyclical support for governments’ anti-crisis plans. ADB has approved critical financing to strengthen food security, provide social protection and support employment in Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

DORE No-one is isolated from the conflict in Europe because globalisation, which has provided enormous benefits, has also increased the interdependence of countries. We have seen significant negative impacts of the war on our member countries globally and the bank has had to react to help countries deal with the negative spillover impacts of the war. Developing countries have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing crisis.

For instance, food prices and global hunger were already on the rise and the war has accelerated a global food crisis. Earlier this year, as part of a comprehensive response to the ongoing food security crisis, World Bank announced a package of up to US$30 billion to help its member countries.

This financing includes efforts to encourage food and fertiliser production, enhance food systems, facilitate greater trade, and support vulnerable households and producers.

BRUSAS Australian and New Zealand dollars offer us diversification so we are happy to enter these markets whenever possible. This year, Australian dollars represents 5 per cent of our total funding, consisting of five transactions. It is not a huge share, but we still appreciate being able to issue in the currency.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to issue in New Zealand dollars this year. But we have been following the market and are keen to come back to it if an opportunity arises.

As I mentioned before, we are not in need of very long maturities. Also, although we have seen fewer 10-year trades for Japanese investors, these have traditionally been fairly small amounts and as such this has not had a big impact on our total funding. Though we hope to see Japanese long-end interest return, the interest in shorter maturities we are now seeing has made up for it.

ROSOLOWSKA The Australian dollar is clearly an important currency for EIB. In 2021 and 2022 it has been the third-largest currency for our overall funding and our sustainability issuance – CABs and SABs. There has been a lot of positive response from investors to these themes. The A$1.5 billion (US$1 billion) transaction we executed in Australian dollars earlier this year was an SAB, in five-year maturity.

While this year we have, as elsewhere, witnessed a shift toward the shorter end of the maturity spectrum in the Kangaroo market, it has not posed any major conundrum for us given our modest maturity needs.
We remain committed to the Kangaroo market and have increasingly been seeing domestic investors supporting our issuance, beyond the Japanese demand we would typically see focused on the long end.

KOTAMRAJU Australia and New Zealand continue to be very important markets for ADB and consistently rank in our top five issuance currencies – if not higher. Our issuance volume in 2022 has exceeded 2021 in both markets.

In Australia, we have issued across the curve from three to 10 years, although we find more demand in the front-to-mid end. This shift is understandable given the shape of the curve and is not unlike what we have experienced in other markets.

FAN The Australian dollar continues to be a strategic market for IADB. With one exception, the Australian dollar has ranked in the top three currencies of annual issuance over the past five years. As of 31 December 2021, the Australian dollar was our third-largest currency for outstanding borrowing.

We are dedicated to adding new points to our Australian dollar curve and building larger outstanding lines via taps. Market conditions and investor preferences change so even though longer-dated Kangaroo trades are not there now, it doesn’t mean they won’t come back in the future. However, we have issued longer-dated Australian dollar bonds in private placement – non-Kangaroo – format this year. These bonds were primarily based on reverse enquiry and targeted at specific investors.

We have totalled A$850 million of Kangaroo issuance in 2022, in 4-5 year maturities, including a new January 2026 EYE Bond – IADB’s social bond programme focused on education, youth and employment. The interest has been at the shorter end of the curve, but these deals allowed us further investor diversification and at the same time enabled us to put a new point on our curve and tap existing lines.

Given current dynamics, where supranational bonds can offer close to triple digits in spread relative to Australian government bonds – which I can’t remember seeing in past years – there could be interest from a broader group of investors if we see stability in spread and relative value.

WEHLERT Traditionally, when markets are volatile in Europe, Australia tends to be a little quieter as investors wait to see what is happening offshore. In the end, so far this year we have placed three new lines in the Kangaroo market, including a 10-year as well as a three- and a five-year line. They were smaller in size than our deals used to be.

We saw some Japanese demand for the 10-year and actually Japanese take-up of our Kangaroo bonds has not been that high over the last three years – around 10 per cent. If it makes sense for Japanese investors and KfW, we are keen to develop the full curve in Australia. But it depends on demand and the cost relative to the euro market.

There were times this year when issuing in Australian dollars absolutely made sense for issuers, but demand was not always there. I am confident for the future because whether it makes sense for us also depends on whether Australian banks raise funds outside Australia, with SSAs catching the basis on the other side. In my recent conversations with Australian investors and business partners, I get the sense there will be plenty of this issuance.

The Australian dollar market has delivered a long-term contribution to our funding programme. Whether our funding is more or less in any particular year, the contribution is strong and we have very good contact with investors. As a result, I consider the market to be strategic.

DORE During the first part of the year, when we had a focus on extending duration, demand in the Australian market was focused on the short end of the curve. We have recently seen signs of investor interest beyond three-year maturities, which is more in line with where we want to issue larger-size deals.

Despite the lower issuance volume this calendar year, the Australian market remains very important for our overall funding strategy and held its ranking in the top five currencies of issuance at the end of our fiscal year on 30 June 2022. We were able to execute very sizeable Australian and New Zealand bonds during the first half of our fiscal year – NZ$1.5 billion [US$921.8 million] and A$800 million dual-tranche bonds. We will continue to look for opportunities to return to both markets in the near term.

KETTING While long-end interest has definitely slowed, this has created opportunities in other parts of the curve. BNG Bank very successfully accessed the Kangaroo market at the start of the year, printing a A$500 million 10.5-year sustainability transaction – the largest ever Kangaroo deal for BNG Bank. We established another liquid 10-year line on BNG Bank’s Australian dollar curve, while tapping into ESG-focused accounts.

Our approach to the market over the past year has proved effective: establishing longer, larger-sized lines through tapping so investors know the bonds are liquid. This has extended BNG Bank’s investor base beyond Japanese long-end interest. Markets move quickly but BNG Bank will be able to adapt – as we did in 2020 when we issued a new 3.5-year Kangaroo line. Nothing changes our view that the Kangaroo market is a very important one.

BRUSAS This is a record year for NIB Environmental Bond – our green-bond programme – issuance: we have placed more than €1 billion. We have enjoyed consistent demand since we established the NIB Environmental Bond framework in 2011. As long as we can find eligible assets, investors are there to buy NIB Environmental Bonds. As a fairly small issuer with a dark-green framework, we have not yet been able to issue in green format in every currency, including in Australian dollars.

In 2022, we issued green bonds in the Nordic currencies – which makes sense as we are based in the Nordics and most of the eligible projects are in the Nordic and Baltic regions. We have issued in Norwegian and Danish krone as well as Swedish krona, in addition to a €500 million green bond.

We are experiencing a small shift in the sense that investors are not purely focused on the product. There is more and more focus on the issuer and how well it is integrating ESG [environmental, social and governance] considerations in all its activities as well as how it is considering environmental and social risks in connection with financing.

This has accelerated our thinking internally. We have a green mandate and we have always assessed projects really carefully before financing them. But in the last two years there have been huge efforts to incorporate ESG in all our activities in a more structured way.

We have established a responsible investment framework for our portfolio managers, and ESG guidelines on the lending and treasury sides, we have updated the sustainability policy of the bank, and we are assessing financed emissions in our portfolios. These efforts should give investors confidence that they are facing a sustainable issuer.

Another focus we have seen and are trying to support is the green transition. Whereas we used to have a lot of focus on things that are already dark green, investors and NIB as an issuer are keen to support companies in hard-to-abate sectors.

A year ago, we established sustainability-linked loans on the lending side. Together with clients, we are negotiating ambitious, forward-looking sustainability performance targets. This financing goes to general purposes rather than a defined project.

ROSOLOWSKA We have two use-of-proceeds [UOP] bond products in addition to our conventional funding: CABs, with proceeds earmarked for climate change mitigation, and SABs for environmental objectives beyond climate and social objectives.

We have enjoyed a record year for CAB and SAB issuance. Together they account for more than 40 per cent of our funding programme so far in 2022. This is double the share they accounted for in 2021, which was already a big jump on 2020.

One big innovation this year has been the mainstreaming of CAB and SAB funding into our benchmark programme. This is the first year we have issued minimum 3 billion transactions in euros and US dollars.
This reflects the strong demand we have experienced as well as our institutional commitment to increase lending to climate and the environment – to 50 per cent of our new annual lending volume by 2025. With this push from both sides, liquid benchmark-sized transactions were warranted in CAB and SAB formats.

When it comes to Australian dollars, we opened our funding programme in 2022 with the A$1.5 billion SAB. We had issued CABs, our flagship product, in Australian dollars before, and we felt the time was ripe to test the waters with a benchmark-sized SAB.

We were encouraged by the reception. The bid from domestic investors was significant – almost one-third of the trade went to onshore investors. Over the past couple of years, domestic interest in our issues has become more stable and reliable, which we view as a very encouraging signal.

WEHLERT KfW only issues green bonds, so we have a one-product strategy. Investors can buy a green bond from KfW under our framework, which we adjust regularly. The framework now includes renewable energy, energy-efficient housing and sustainable mobility.

We intend to issue around €10 billion this year and so far we have issued €8 billion. We match disbursements on a year-to-year basis. This means we have to monitor how much disbursements we have at the beginning of the year, because this indicates how much we can issue that year in green bonds.

As a result, our green-bond funding is slower at the start of the year. Given the overall situation, we could already see at the beginning of the year that our disbursements were lower than in 2021. We had our record issuance year for green bonds in 2021 – of €16 billion.

I agree with my colleagues that demand for green bonds is high. The question becomes what issuers can offer. KfW has issued in green format this year in Danish krona and Swedish krone, as well as Polish zloty. We like to issue in these currencies for diversification. Then our focus is on the euro market, where we issued seven- and 10-year green bonds.

I expect demand to increase given all investors have a focus on this type of instrument. They also need liquid product – they don’t want to buy something niche. We have moved our green bonds out of a niche into a liquid market. On the other hand, when market situations are not clear a green format tends to be easier to allocate and place because it still has a kind of rarity value. This gives me confidence that we will be able to continue to issue green bonds.

KOTAMRAJU ADB’s theme bonds have resonated well with Australian and New Zealand investors. We continue to find strong demand for our theme bond issuance having issued nearly A$2 billion and NZ$1.2 billion across gender and health themes in 2022, exceeding what we issued in 2021 and our regular issuance without the theme. We also have increased engagement from investors that are interested to learn more about our gender and health projects.

DORE IBRD was the first to issue a green bond in 2008, to support channelling finance toward sustainable investment opportunities. In 2014, IBRD issued the first green bond in Australia.

Today, while IBRD continues to issue green bonds in specific cases, both IBRD and IDA take a more holistic approach by labelling transactions as Sustainable Development Bonds to communicate the integration of social and environmental goals as part of World Bank’s overall sustainable development mandate.

As part of its Sustainable Development Bond programme, IBRD also engages with investors on certain themes that highlight and explain World Bank’s work on specific SDGs [UN Sustainable Development Goals] and development challenges.

We have experienced a significant increase in green, social and sustainability (GSS) bond issuance globally as many more investors are now integrating ESG factors into their investment decisions and looking for opportunities to make an impact.

We are also seeing more issuers following our strategy and moving toward a holistic approach, to emphasise the importance of social as well as green and how the two are interconnected.

KETTING We continue to find strong demand for our ESG bonds, and it is a key topic of focus with investors as this market continues to develop. We also experienced this during investor meetings in 2022, where the majority of conversations involved a discussion on ESG.

ESG issuance is perceived to be more liquid in the secondary market, which can create increased demand for it during challenging market conditions.

The slowdown in GSS issuance is largely due to quieter benchmark issuance as a whole. It has been challenging for issuers to access the market for public benchmarks, with a material percentage of supply this year in private placement format as issuers looked to move quickly to take advantage of funding opportunities.

When clear windows and stable market conditions did present themselves, demand for GSS product was evident: the three largest SSA Kangaroo transactions this year were in ESG format.

BNG Bank’s success with its 10.5-year deal embodies the work the bank continues to do in this space. We look to continue to access the market in this format and diversify our investor base through ESG-aligned issuance.

FAN At the margin, there is perhaps slightly stronger interest in labelled than unlabelled bonds. A labelled bond provides a story to tell, which helps generate momentum. This could motivate more investors to participate, especially those that have dedicated ESG portfolios. Also, our outstanding amount of labelled bonds is smaller relative to our unlabelled bonds, so there may be rarity value.

However, ultimately, I believe the right maturity, pricing and timing are the main determining factors for investors. A label is nice to have but if the other factors are absent, I don’t think a label will make a difference.

IADB has two labelled bond programmes. EYE bonds are social bonds – education, youth and employment – and they show IADB’s approach to developing human capital in Latin America and the Caribbean. The second labelled bond product is the Sustainable Development Bond programme. For this, we demonstrate how IADB’s strategic priorities are matched to the 17 SDGs and how the bank is striving to achieve these goals.

We have the labelled bond programmes in part because this is what investors want. Labelled bonds stand out from a crowded product field as they allow investors better to highlight their priorities to clients and shareholders.

However, one could technically consider all our bonds to be eligible ESG investments. There were numerous questions regarding ESG in all my investor meetings in Australia recently. But this was not just about our labelled bonds; the focus was more on IADB’s overall strategy toward ESG, including environmental and social policy framework, and the assessment of environmental and social risks in our projects.

Increasingly, investors that may have started with labelled bond issuance are now looking at issuers from a more holistic point of view. We may have focused on labelled social and sustainable development bonds but not issuing green bonds does not mean we are not doing anything in green and climate finance. All IADB’s borrowing member countries have signed on to the Paris Agreement and we are helping them achieve the targets set out by this agreement.

For example, IADB has committed to deliver a total of US$24 billion of green and climate finance through to 2025, and we have also committed that at least 30 per cent of our new approvals on an annual basis are targeted toward green and climate finance.

KOTAMRAJU Accelerating progress on gender equality is an operational priority for ADB in its long-term strategic framework, Strategy 2030. Strategy 2030 holds that, to achieve a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and sustainable region, it is imperative that ADB contributes to the efforts of accelerating gender equality outcomes in the region in five areas: economic empowerment, human development, decision-making and leadership, poverty reduction, and resilience to external shocks.

ADB is committed to supporting gender equality through gender-inclusive projects in at least 75 per cent of its sovereign and nonsovereign operations by 2030. The bank promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment by mainstreaming these goals across the full range of its operations.

In 2019-21, the share of completed operations assessed to have achieved their intended gender equality results was 81 per cent in ADB assistance overall and 83 per cent in the concessional assistance subset, exceeding the 80 per cent by 2024 target for the first time.

FAN IADB’s institutional strategy includes the cross-cutting issue of gender equality and diversity. The bank’s Gender and Diversity Action Plan translates this commitment to concrete actions, including targeted results. For example, IADB has established targets for the percentage of new lending project approvals supporting gender, as well as diversity. Climate change, gender and diversity specialists are involved during the preparation phase of our loans to ensure focus in these areas.

In addition, IADB has established a 43 per cent target for female mid- and senior-level staff by 2023, and the bank is on track to meet this target. To do so, it is crucial to establish a level playing field that includes blind hiring practices and interview hiring panels with equal numbers of men and women. It also means establishing a flexible working policy, including the ability to work from home.

IADB is EDGE Move certified. EDGE stands for economic dividends for gender equality and it is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. It has recognised IADB’s proactive management of pay equity and strong framework of policies and practices.

WEHLERT KfW has a clear strategy for achieving gender equality, which also includes quantitative targets for having women in leadership positions. Furthermore, a lot of effort is made to eliminate structural disadvantages and facilitate work-life balance.

The most recent hires for the managing board of directors were mainly women. However, they were nearly all hired externally. The work that has to be done is internal – to build up the pipeline so we can have more women at the top. In this context, KfW has a target of 40 per cent female team leaders and 32 per cent female department heads.

In financial markets, the recruiting process is more difficult. The targets I have mentioned are institutional targets – including being family friendly and offering flexible working hours. This isn’t as easy in financial markets as in other areas of the bank. We see more women in some areas than others, so it is not an even development across departments.

KETTING BNG Bank encourages the recruitment, retention and use of diverse talent, and believes in its added value. We aim to provide an environment in which people feel welcome, can be themselves and are valued for who they are. The perfect team consists of a mix of people of different genders, ages and ethnic backgrounds as well as education, training and competences.

BNG Bank has met the target it set of having representation of at least 33 per cent men and at least 33 per cent women on the supervisory board and the ExCo.

ROSOLOWSKA On the external dimension, in relation to our lending activities, we have an EIB group strategy on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. We are currently in the 2021-24 action plan, which prescribes how we should look at our operations through a gender lens.

The plan is based on three pillars: protect, impact and invest. These ensure the rights of women are upheld and protected in all our operations, while we also support clients in designing gender-responsive projects and identify investments targeted at women’s economic empowerment.

We are also part of the Multilateral Development Bank Working Group on Gender. This is a knowledge exchange platform where we share best practices and facilitate dialogue on gender-related issues. EIB became chair of this working group this year, for a period of two years. The working group organises global gender summits, the last of which took place in Cairo a few months ago.

With regard to the internal dimension within EIB, we have adopted hiring policies, talent development and other measures that aim to improve gender equality. When it comes to panels, we have a ‘no diversity, no panel’ policy. In addition, we run a female leadership mentoring programme that seeks to promote and support female talent within the organisation.

BRUSAS I am representing the Nordic area at this discussion and sometimes I hear we don’t have any gender issues in these countries. This isn’t entirely true – there is still work to be done regarding gender equality.

NIB has an equity, diversity and inclusion plan for 2022-24, which is about having a diverse workforce and promoting women in managerial positions. This plan includes an inclusive work culture and transparency in the organisation’s compensation structure. We are also doing hybrid working hours, which should be beneficial for women – and men – with small children.

We are an international institution and we want to attract international workers to Helsinki. This can be difficult for women in managerial positions because they need a lot of support for their families. We are looking into this, to make it easier for women to take up a position at NIB.

The International Capital Market Association has a women’s network with steering committees for different regions. I chair the steering committee for the Nordic area and I have just started planning a women’s networking event for next year, which is exciting.

DORE Achieving gender equality is a priority at World Bank. There is greater awareness about the issue, as well as the recognition that women’s full participation is key to economic growth and resilience.
We have a diversity index with a gender parity goal at all levels, and are implementing policies to achieve it. Though the bank has made progress, we still have a way to go. There remain imbalances at some levels of management and staff, but more granular targets that were recently introduced are beginning to show results.

Additionally, as a development institution, we look at every project we finance through a gender lens. Gender equality is crucial for World Bank to deliver on its twin goals of eradicating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, because accelerating gender equality and investing in empowerment generates large economic gains.

Studies show that closing the gender employment gap could raise long-run GDP per capita by nearly 20 per cent on average across countries. We need to keep building on the current momentum and some of the successes we have had, because gender equality benefits everyone.