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EBRD chief to Tajikistan for microfinance deals
EBRD President Jean Lemierre begins a two-day trip to the central Asian state
of Tajikistan today, during which he will hold talks with President Emomali
Rakhmonov, the Prime Minister and other government, diplomatic and business
leaders. He will also sign two innovative microfinance deals and a trade
finance agreement on behalf of the Bank. After the signings in Dushanbe at
17.30pm local time on Thursday, Mr Lemierre will host a press conference at
Kohi Vahdat conference centre. (Please call the EBRD’s Dushanbe office if you
would like to attend the press conference.)
President Lemierre expects to sign a $2 million credit line with
Agroinvestbank, the fourth banking partner in the EBRD’s $7 million Tajik
Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Finance Facility. Since its launch less than
two years ago, the facility has financed 4,556 businesses, lending $11.8
million in total. The first three partners are Eskhata Bank, Tajiksoridotbank
and TajPromBank. With Agroinvestbank, the €7 million facility will be fully
placed.
In a second deal, Agroinvestbank also joins the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation
Programme (TFP); the $2 million trade-related guarantee limit extended to it
brings the EBRD’s cumulative limit opened to four Tajik banks to $9.5 million.
The TFP was initiated in 1999 to support trade to, from and within the Bank’s
27 countries of operations. The EBRD guarantees payment obligations of local
issuing banks to their international confirming counterparts in respect of
trade-finance instruments.
This visit is also an opportunity to celebrate a new type of microfinance
lending introduced by the EBRD to Tajikistan, where 65 per cent of people earn
less than $2.15 a day. In the wake of its successful micro-lending programme
through Tajikistan’s banks, the Bank has also set up a $10 million framework
for non-bank organisations in Early Transition Countries (ETC), its seven
poorest countries of operation. Non-bank organisations are active in more
remote and rural locations. A $1 million loan to Tajikistan’s International
Micro-Loan Fund “Imon” – which is the new name for the Mercy Corps
microlending programme operated by the National Association of Business Women,
Tajikistan, since 1999, making very small loans without collateral – makes
this the first organisation to benefit. By working with a broader range of
local financial institutions with a focus on smaller borrowers, the EBRD has
an opportunity to both expand and deepen its outreach, Mr Lemierre said.
Tajikistan is one of seven Commonwealth of Independent States countries
included in the Bank’s ETC Initiative since 2004. The Bank’s goal with
countries in this programme is to stimulate market activity by using a
streamlined approach to financing more and smaller projects, mobilising more
investment, and encouraging economic reform. The Bank accepts higher risk
while still respecting sound banking principles.
Mr Lemierre travels on to Kazakhstan for a meeting of the Foreign Investors’
Council (FIC) on Friday.
Contact in Dushanbe: Firuza Iskhakova; Tel: +992 372 210763
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