The Government today served notices to the Legislative Council announcing its intention to introduce two resolutions under the Loans Ordinance to raise the borrowing limits of two bond programmes.

The resolutions seek to raise the maximum amount of borrowings under the Government Bond Programme from $200 billion to $300 billion, and that under the Government Green Bond Programme (GGBP) from $100 billion to $200 billion, with a view to promoting the local bond market's sustainable development.

Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui said the two programmes have been serving an important function of promoting bond market development in Hong Kong through regular issuances of institutional, retail and green bonds.

“The two programmes have been well received by the market as evident in the oversubscription recorded for past issuances.

“We hope that with the enlarged scale they can cater for the increasing demand of local and international investors for high-quality government bonds.

“This will reinforce Hong Kong's position as a leading bond market in Asia and strengthen our competitiveness as an international financial centre.”

He also said the Government will expand the scope of the GGBP so that the green bond proceeds can be used to fund a wider variety of green projects.

This will allow the Government to further tap into the green bond market to support low-carbon transformation in Hong Kong, thereby consolidating its position as a green finance hub in the region.

Apart from issuing inflation-linked retail bonds, the Government will lower the eligible age for subscribing Silver Bond from 65 to 60 and issue retail green bonds in this financial year.

“We hope that the borrowing limits of the two programmes can be raised as soon as possible, thereby allowing more flexibility for the issuance arrangements in future,” Mr Hui added.

Subject to the necessary legislative process, the Government will move the resolutions in LegCo on June 16.