Jordan’s Housing Bank Issues the Kingdom’s First Blue Bond With 100 Million Dollars From the EBRD
The Housing Bank for Trade and Finance issued Jordan’s first blue bond on Wednesday, a 100 million dollar loan note subscribed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as the first tranche of a 200 million dollar program, Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported.
Proceeds will fund sustainable water projects, primarily the National Water Carrier, the desalination and conveyance megaproject designed to deliver about 300 million cubic meters of potable water a year from Aqaba to Amman and other governorates, serving around 4 million people. Housing Bank arranged an 800 million dinar banking syndication for the project in 2025.
The issuance falls under the bank’s green bond framework, aligned with the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles and the International Finance Corporation’s guidelines for blue finance. The EBRD said it is the first blue bond in Jordan and in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, and the third labelled use-of-proceeds bond by a Jordanian financial institution.
Housing Bank chief executive Ammar Safadi called the launch “an important milestone for the Kingdom’s capital market,” describing the instrument as dedicated to water-resource management, ecosystem protection and sustainable infrastructure. The EBRD’s Mike Taylor said the bond “strengthens the link between sustainable finance and the Kingdom’s water security priorities.”
The initial note takes up half the program, our calculation, leaving another 100 million dollars of headroom for later tranches as the water project advances.
Why it matters: Water is among the region’s most acute economic constraints, and Jordan faces severe water scarcity, as the EBRD notes. A dedicated blue instrument that channels institutional capital into desalination and conveyance offers a financing template for the wider region, and its arrival deepens Jordan’s sustainable capital market.
Outlook: The markers to watch are the timing and size of subsequent tranches under the 200 million dollar program, progress on the National Water Carrier itself, and whether other Jordanian and regional banks follow with labelled water-linked issuance.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Issue size | 100 million dollars |
| Program | 200 million dollars, phased |
| Investor | EBRD |
| Use of proceeds | Water projects, mainly the National Water Carrier |
| Project capacity | About 300 million cubic meters a year |
| Beneficiaries | Around 4 million people |
Sources: Petra; EBRD.
