Publication of Statistics on Sustainable Debt Securities Holdings
24/10/2024 - Press Releases
- The Bank of Greece starts publishing on its website quarterly data on sustainable debt securities held by domestic residents.
- The European Central Bank (ECB) also publishes similar data as part of its action plan to integrate climate change considerations into its monetary policy strategy.[1]
Τhe Bank of Greece, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1011/2012 of the European Central Bank (ECB/2012/24) concerning statistics on holdings of securities and Guideline (EU) 2022/971 of the European Central Bank on the production of securities issues statistics (ΕCB/2022/25), since 2021 already compiles quarterly statistics on sustainable debt securities held by domestic residents.
Holdings of sustainable debt securities include the following categories, in accordance with the practice followed by the ECB:
- (a) Green debt securities, where the proceeds are used to finance green projects;
- (b) Social debt securities, where the proceeds are used to finance projects that address social issues;
- (c) Sustainability debt securities, where the proceeds are used to finance a combination of both green and social projects; and
- (d) Sustainability-linked debt securities, where the issuers are committed to future improvements in sustainability outcomes, with no restrictions on how the proceeds can be used.
Data on holdings of green debt securities are broken down by economic sector. They are reported at market value and refer to outstanding amounts at the end of each reference period. For social securities, sustainability securities and sustainability-linked securities, information is provided in aggregate amounts, regardless of the economic sector of the resident holder.
In line with ECB practice, the sustainability classification of a given debt security is by no means a label assigned by the Bank of Greece but is given exclusively on the basis of information in the issuer’s disclosures.
Sustainable debt securities holdings statistics will be published on a quarterly basis by the Bank of Greece in line with the ECB’s corresponding publication policy for the euro area as a whole. As of September 2024, the ECB has been publishing these data as official statistics of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).
The purpose of this publication is to provide detailed data to help analyse more effectively climate risks that could affect monetary policy, price stability and the financial system. The ECB, along with the national central banks, will continue to work on improving the methodology and quality of these data. The published data will be gradually improved and enriched in the future as a result of these methodological improvements. The structure and contents of the tables may change at a later stage.
Relevant link:
The data are published in the "Statistics" section of the Bank of Greece website, under "Financial markets", sub-section "Sustainable Debt Securities Holdings by Domestic Residents"