Scale of Polish green bond issue could be yardstick for Hungary

Hungary will take into consideration the size of Poland’s green bond issue in 2017 when weighing the scale of its own issue of government securities to finance climate-friendly programmes, Innovation and Technology Minister László Palkovics said in an interview published in Thursday’s issue of daily Magyar Nemzet.

Palkovics noted that Poland issued the equivalent of some 750 billion forints of green bonds in 2017.

The number of investors who want to subscribe green bonds is growing, he added.

Read alsoHungary in talks with investors in Japan, China on green bond issue

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced the launch of the green bond in the framework of a climate protection action plan unveiled at an annual state of the nation speech earlier in February.

Finance Minister Mihály Varga has said Hungary is already in talks on the issue of the three- to five-year security with investors in Japan and China.

Read alsoMinister identifies pillars of Hungary’s climate action plan

In another measure, Palkovics told the paper the government would launch the Waste Management Authority in July, to deal with illegal waste dumps. The authority, operating on its own budget, will eliminate dumps the local authorities could not tackle and then bill the local authority for the costs, Palkovics said.

The government is looking at involving workers in the government’s fostered work scheme in the authority’s work, he added.

Source: MTI