In November 2023, International Finance Corporation (IFC) issued a three-year social bond, raising $1.5 billion to support low-income communities in emerging markets.

The transaction marks IFC's largest-ever social bond – which it reports received its largest-ever orderbook – and was the biggest US dollar social bond issued by a supranational in 2023.

The issuance attracted a diverse range of investors, including central banks, official institutions, commercial banks, and asset managers. Unprecedented demand resulted in $6.7 billion in orders and prompted IFC to raise the issuance amount from $1 billion to $1.5 billion.

The bond was priced at an equivalent of 8.2 basis points over the three-year US Treasury, representing the tightest US Treasury spread in this tenor for a sovereign, supranational agency issuer in 2023.

Proceeds from the bonds fund a range of social projects which include: affordable basic infrastructure (e.g. clean drinking water, sewers, sanitation, transport, energy); access to essential services (e.g. education and vocational training, healthcare, financing and financial services); affordable housing; women-owned micro, small and medium-sized businesses who lack access to finance; and companies that incorporate people at the "base of the economic pyramid" into their value chain; as well as food security.

IFC has been issuing social bonds since it launched its Social Bond Program in 2017, with over $8 billion issued through 93 social bonds and across 14 different currencies.

The social bond programme aligns with the Social Bond Principles published by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).