Washington, D.C./Singapore, April 24, 2014- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today recognized the support of Singapore Exchange (SGX) in its initiatives to foster the development of offshore and onshore capital markets in Asia.

IFC Vice President and Treasurer Jingdong Hua and Singapore Exchange Head of Listings, Lawrence Wong, said SGX had played a key role in the success of the IFC Global Rupee Program, launched in October 2013 to support India's capital markets. Under the program, which was listed on SGX and in Luxembourg, IFC issued $1 billion in bonds with three, five, and seven-year maturities, establishing a triple-A benchmark yield curve for global rupee bonds and bringing depth and maturity to the offshore rupee markets. The bonds were sold to a wide range of investors globally.

"Deep and efficient capital markets are the foundations for sustainable growth," said Hua. "IFC is committed to supporting the development of Asia's capital markets, to facilitate the flow of international and domestic savings into local economies and create access to finance for the private sector-the key driver of jobs in the region and globally."

"The IFC Global Rupee Bond program paved the way for Indian corporates and other issuers to raise capital from international investors through rupee-linked debt programs. We look forward to supporting such programs from IFC and other issuers to help finance long-term projects in the region while helping to deepen its capital markets," said Wong.

SGX is the premier bond listing venue in Asia with over 1,600 bonds listed by more than 600 issuers from 34 countries in 20 currencies. Indian agencies and companies are the third largest issuers of bonds listed on SGX, raising a total of US$65 billion. More than 80% of listed international bonds from Indian issuers are listed on SGX. By listing on SGX, bond issuers assure bondholders of timely dissemination of information such as bond offer documents and material company announcements via the SGX website.

IFC supports the development of domestic capital markets by issuing bonds in local currencies. Over the years, IFC has issued bonds in 14 emerging market currencies. In Asia, IFC has issued local currency bonds in the domestic markets in Malaysia and China. IFC has also issued offshore renminbi bonds, and earlier this year became the first international finance institution to list such bonds in London, raising 2 billion renminbi from investors globally.

In addition to issuing bonds, IFC helps domestic private sector companies to access local bond markets. This includes offering credit enhancements to support local currency bond issuances. In April IFC provided the first partial credit guarantee in Indonesia to support a bond issuance by the Ciputra Group, a leading real estate developer.

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