By Jamie Lee

leejamie@sph.com.sg

@JamieLeeBT

Singapore

SINGAPORE is keen to develop a

green bond market that is globally val-

ued at about US$200 billion, and the

Monetary Authority of Singapore

(MAS) will offer a grant to bond is-

suers to cover expenses, said a top

minister on Thursday.

Bond issuers who qualify can off-

set all expenses from obtaining an ex-

ternal review of green bonds, up to a

cap of S$100,000 per issuance, said

Lawrence Wong, second minister for

finance and minister for national de-

velopment, at the IMAS conference.

“MAS recognises that green bond

issuers may have to bear additional

costs as they engage external review-

ers to ascertain their green bond

status,” said Mr Wong.

This comes as Singapore looks to

introduce new benchmarks across dif-

ferent asset classes amid signs that

sustainable investing can pay off. In-

vestors are allocating more capital to

sustainable businesses, and Singa-

pore’s investment giants Temasek

Holdings and GIC are also taking sus-

tainability into consideration when

evaluating investment, he added.

Green bonds are used to fund pro-

jects that have a positive impact on

the environment. The green bond

market has grown rapidly over the

years, with Bank of America Merrill

Lynch (BOAML) estimating a need of

about US$90 trillion of investments

into low-carbon infrastructure

through to 2030, in order to hit global

growth expectations. Of this, 60 per

cent of such investments will be

needed in the emerging markets.

China alone will require about

US$450 billion in investments.

BOAML, the top issuer of green

bonds globally and in Asia, noted that

2016 showed off the fourth straight

record year of green bond issuances,

with about US$90 billion in green

bonds issued last year. It is projecting

as much as US$130 billion of issu-

ances in 2017, led mainly by China.

Singapore has a broad community

of asset managers and institutional in-

vestors on the buy side, and banks

with strong debt origination capabilit-

ies on the sell side, said Mr Wong.

“This puts us in a strong position

to support the development of a

green bond market. The presence of

such a market here will add to the

breadth and depth of our debt mar-

ket,” he added.

Peter Guenthardt, country execut-

ive for Singapore and South East Asia

at BOAML, said this “forward-looking”

policy will enhance Singapore’s posi-

tion at the centre of Asia’s growing

market for socially responsible finan-

cing. “The Asia green bond market is

a driver of incremental global growth.

This move positions Singapore as a

key player in what is rapidly becom-

ing a mainstream avenue for finan-

cing.”

Tony Lewis, head of HSBC’s secur-

ities services in Singapore, said green

bonds offer diversification for in-

vestors, and an opportunity to pro-

mote sustainability. “Green finance is

a rapidly-growing field, spurred on

by consensus that more needs to be

done to combat climate change. En-

couraging more issuers to tap into

the green bond market should help

kick-start interest in this asset class

and foster the growth of green bond

issuance in Singapore.”

London

BRITISH police arrested eight people at six locations in London and Birmingham in the investigation into Wednesday’s lone-wolf attack that British Prime Minister Theresa May said was inspired by a warped Islamist ideology. Forty people were injured and 29 remain in hospital, seven in critical condition.

The attacker who killed three people near the British parliament before being shot dead was British-born and was once investigated by MI5 intelligence agents over con-cerns about violent extremism, Mrs May said on Thursday.

The assailant sped across West-minster Bridge in a car, ploughing into pedestrians along the way, then ran through the gates of the nearby parliament building and fatally stabbed an unarmed policeman before being shot dead.

“What I can confirm is that the man was British-born and that some years ago he was once investigated by MI5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism,” Mrs May said in a statement to Parliament. “He was a peripheral figure. . . He was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot,” she said, adding that his identity would be revealed when the investigation allowed.

Westminster Bridge and the area just around parliament were still cordoned off on Thursday morning and a line of forensic investigators in light blue overalls were on their hands and knees, examining the scene where the attacker was shot.

The dead were two members of the public, the stabbed policeman and the attacker.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a statement on Thursday condemning the attack, and confirmed no Singaporeans were affected in the incident.

“Singapore strongly condemns the vicious terrorist attack in West-minster, London on 22 March 2017 that led to the death and injury of innocent persons, including a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. We express our deepest condo-lences to the bereaved families, and wish the injured a speedy recovery.”

“The people of Singapore stand in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom at this difficult time,” the MFA said, adding that the Singapore High Commission in London will continue to monitor the situation.

In addition, President Tony Tan

Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee

Hsien Loong have written to both Queen Elizabeth II and Mrs May to convey their condolences and con-demn the attack.

“On behalf of the people of Singa-

pore, I convey our deepest condo-lences to the families who lost their loved ones, and whose lives have been affected by this horrific inci-dent. We wish those injured a speedy

recovery,” Dr Tan wrote. “Singapore strongly condemns this senseless and horrific terrorist act. Singapore stands in solidarity with the United Kingdom during this difficult time,

and in the broader fight against ter-ror.”

Mr Lee, on a four-day official visit to Vietnam, wrote that “Singapore strongly condemns this attack, and

stands in solidarity with the United Kingdom against such acts that attempt to incite fear, create divi-sions and disrupt our lives”.

“I am confident that the British

people will overcome this challen-ging period with dignity and forti-tude,” PM Lee wrote.

It was the worst such attack in Britain since 2005, when 52 people

were killed by militant Islamist suicide bombers on London’s public transport system. Police had given the death toll as five but revised it down to four on Thursday. The

casualties included 12 Britons, three French children, two Romanians, four South Koreans, one German, one Pole, one Chinese, one American and

two Greeks, Mrs May said. “We meet here, in the oldest of all parliaments, because we know that democracy and the values it entails will always prevail,” she said.

“A terrorist came to the place where people of all nationalities and cultures gather what it means to be free and he took out his rage indis-criminately against innocent men, women and children,” she added.

A minute’s silence was held in parliament and in front of police headquarters at New Scotland Yard at 0933 GMT, in honour of the victims – 933 was the shoulder number on the uniform of Keith Palmer, the police-man who was stabbed to death.

Some have been shocked that the attacker was able to cause such mayhem in the heart of the capital equipped with nothing more sophis-ticated than a hired car and a knife.

“The police and agencies that we rely on for our security have fore-stalled a large number of these at-

tacks in recent years, over a dozen last year,” said defence minister Mi-chael Fallon. “This kind of attack, this lone-wolf attack, using things from daily life, a vehicle, a knife, are much more difficult to forestall.”

Three French high-school stu-dents aged 15 or 16, who were on a school trip to London with fellow students from Brittany, were among the injured. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who travelled to London to bring a message of solida-rity, met some of the other students who were on the school trip and their families.

Anti-immigration groups were quick to make links between immigra-tion and the attack, though it was sub-sequently revealed the attacker was British-born. In France, far-right pres-idential candidate Marine Le Pen also drew a link, saying events in London highlighted the importance of pro-tecting national borders and stepping up security measures. REUTERS

New grant to boost green bond issuancein Singapore

UK police arrest eight following deadly Westminster attack

Belgian ministers and MPs hold a minute of silence for the victims of the terror attack in London at the beginning of a plenary session of the Chamber at the Federal Parliament in Brussels. PHOTO: AFP

Bond issuers can offset expenses from obtaining external review of green bonds, up to S$100,000 per issuance

“The Asia green bond market is a driver of incremental global growth. This move positions Singapore as a key player in what is rapidly becoming a mainstream avenue for financing.”Peter Guenthardt, BOAML country exec-utive for Singapore and South East Asia

S’pore condemns attack; PM Lee, President Tony Tan convey their condolences

6

5

3

2

0

-2

Source: Department of Statistics

Upward march

CPI-All Items, CPI-ex OOA and MAS Core Inflation*

% point contribution to year-on-year CPI-All Items Inflation

BT Data

Singapore’s February headline inflation recorded its third consecutive month of increase and the fastest in 30 months. The February reading was 0.7 per cent, marginally higher than January’s 0.6 per cent year on year, as expected. But core inflation eased to 1.2 per cent last month, down from 1.5 per cent in the previous month, based on Department of Statistics data released on Thursday. Headline inflation is slightly higher mainly due to private road transport costs, which rose by 7.1 per cent – the highest on-year increase in 47 months – from January’s 4.1 per cent. Higher petrol pump prices and electronic road pricing charges offset the decline in car prices due to lower Certificate of Entitlement premiums. Core inflation is lower mainly due to lower services and food inflation. The former fell to 1.5 per cent in February from 1.9 per cent in January while the latter slowed to 1.3 per cent from 1.9 per cent in previous month due to the timing of Chinese New Year which fell in February last year. BY CHAI HUNG YIN

BT Data is a new series tracking Singapore’s economic indicators

“The firmer rate of inflation in 2017 largely reflects the contribution of energy-related components, as well as some administrative price increases, rather than generalised demand-induced price pressures.” – MAS and MTI joint statement.

“Although the latest inflationary environment looks benign, we still think that the prices of goods imports will climb higher in the coming months. This is because producer prices in China had clocked six consecutive months of on-year increases (since September 2016) to register 7.8 per cent year on year in February, after a previous 54-month decline. We are expecting the retail goods inflation to add on to overall consumer prices in the coming months as retailers pass on higher import costs to consumers. Moreover, commodity prices have been gaining strength in recent months and will result in higher raw material prices for manufacturers.” – UOB economist Francis Tan.

“Higher commodity prices, including both oil and food, and a cyclical recovery will likely increase inflation readings incrementally over the year. Several inflation indicators are already showing sharp increases from a year ago, including Opec Oil Price (+86 per cent in February), non-fuel primary commodities (+20 per cent in February) and the import price index (+11.3 per cent in January). Inflation will also be impacted by water price hikes in July 2017.” – Maybank Kim Eng economist Chua Hak Bin.

Source: MAS, MTI estimates

% POINT

CPI-ex OOA

201420132012 2015 2016 Feb 2017

6

4

2

0

MAS Core Inflation

201420132012 2015 2016 Feb‘17

1.2%

1.8%

0.7%CPI-All Items

PRIVATE ROAD TRANSPORT SERVICES

FOOD ELECTRICITY, LPG & GAS

ACCOMMODATION OTHERS

* Core inflation excludes the cost of accommodation and private road transport

Y-O-Y % GROWTH

6 | TOP STORIESThe Business Times | Friday, March 24, 2017