Central banks appear to have increased their exposure to social bonds during the past year, as significant issuance increased the pool of available assets in the market.

In total, 42.9% of 42 participating central banks reported they invest in such instruments in Reserve Benchmarks 2021, up from 30.5% in 2020.

Still, most institutions allocate a small share of their portfolios to these assets. These more commonly range from 0% to 2%. However, one European central bank said it invests 3% of its