This guidance note was prepared by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group staff under a project undertaken with the support of grants from the Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening Initiative, (FIRST).The aim of the project was to deliver a report that provides emerging market and developing economies with guidance and a roadmap in developing their local currency bond markets (LCBMs). This note will also inform technical assistance missions in advising authorities on the formulation of policies to deepen LCBMs.

Since the Asia and Tequila crises of the late 1990s, a growing number of emerging market countries have focused on developing local bond markets to lock in local currency, fixed-rate and long-term funding, and help governments and corporations better manage their financing risks. International organizations from Washington to Southeast Asia are pushing bond market development, to reduce global instability by improving domestic risk management. This book is part of the International Finance Corporation's efforts to assist countries in South Asia and other parts of the world to identify their need for local bond markets, the impediments to developing them, and how those impediments might be removed. The book is based on papers presented at the South Asian Debt Market Symposium held in Sri Lanka in October 1999. It provides valuable insights to emerging market nations wrestling with the issue of building local bond markets. This book will be of interest to bond market specialists, policymakers, and the private sector.

Capital markets can improve risk sharing and the efficiency with which capital is allocated to the real economy, boosting economic growth and welfare. However, despite these potential benefits, not all countries have well developed capital markets. Moreover, government-led initiatives to develop local capital markets have had mixed success. This paper reviews the literature on the benefits and costs of developing local capital markets, and describes the challenges faced in the development of such markets. The paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations emerging from this literature.

The Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI) was launched in December 2002 by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea---collectively known as ASEAN+3 to strengthen financial stability and reduce the region’s vulnerability to the sudden reversal of capital flows. This paper also provides recommendations for addressing new sources of market volatility and other challenges within and outside the framework of the Asian Bond Markets Initiative.

African bond markets have been steadily growing in recent years, but nonetheless remain undeveloped. African countries would benefit from greater access to financing and deeper financial markets. This paper compiles a unique set of data on corporate bond markets in Africa. It then applies an econometric model to analyze the key determinants of African government securities market and corporate bond market capitalization. Government securities market capitalization is directly related to better institutions and interest rate volatility, and inversely related to the fiscal balance, higher interest rate spreads, exchange rate volatility, and current and capital account openness. Corporate bond market capitalization is directly linked to economic size, the level of development of the economy and financial markets, better institutions, and interest rate volatility, and inversely related to higher interest rate spreads and current account openness. Policy implications follow.

Despite exhibiting remarkable growth, the green bond market still represents less than 1 percent of the global bond market. This paper identifies two challenges that might slow the adoption of green bonds and presents a menu of responses that policymakers, regulators, and public financial institutions can use to offset these challenges. Specifically, it explores two key dimensions: (i) the risk profile of the green bond instrument and (ii) the transaction costs associated with issuance of and reporting on green bonds. New approaches to risk design and technology-based approaches are essential to untap the potential of green bond markets, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean and other developing regions. The incorporation of financial mechanisms such as covered bonds and guarantees can adequately address the risk of the issues, making the market more attractive for investors. Enhanced regulation and education and leveraging efficiencies of new technologies such as distributed ledger technologies can substantially reduce monitoring and reporting costs, while improving transparency in the use of proceeds and market integrity.

In November 2011, the G-20 endorsed an action plan to support the development of local currency bond markets (LCBM). International institutions—the IMF, the World Bank, the EBRD, and the OECD—were asked to draw on their experience to develop a diagnostic framework (DF) to identify general preconditions, key components, and constraints for successful LCBM development. The objective is to provide a tool for analyzing the state of development and efficiency of local currency bond markets. The application of the DF is expected to be flexible, bearing in mind that the potential for LCBM development depends on economic size, financing needs, and stage of economic development.