Bucharest, Romania, June 16, 2014—IFC,
a member of the World Bank Group, approved a €35 million loan to
Garanti Bank Romania to help finance the country’s small and medium businesses,
with €20 million for on-lending to companies owned or managed by women.
This is IFC’s second loan to Garanti
specifically designed to support women entrepreneurs in Romania. In 2012,
IFC provided a €22.5 million loan to Garanti to back more than 160 small
and medium companies in the textile industry, trade, construction, tourism,
and services.
“Garanti Bank has been supporting entrepreneurs,
with a focus on women-led small and medium-sized enterprises, for the past
four years,” said Ufuk Tandogan, CEO Garanti Bank Romania. “By providing
loans to this sector we want to help them develop, increase competitiveness
and overcome obstacles they are facing in the current challenging economic
environment.”
Romania is home to more than 400,000
women entrepreneurs, representing 36 percent of shareholders and associates
in local firms. Garanti Bank has a portfolio of 25,000 smaller business
clients in Romania.
“Strengthening women’s participation
in the Romanian private sector empowers women and harnesses untapped potential
for advancing development,” said K. Aftab Ahmed, IFC Director for Financial
Institutions and Private Equity Group. “Our partnership with Garanti Bank
Romania ensures that smaller companies and women entrepreneurs will continue
to have access to funds needed for their growth.”
Romania became an IFC member in 1990,
and IFC has invested a total of $2.2 billion in the country since then.
IFC’s financial markets strategy in Central and Southern Europe is to
partner with systemic banks in order to sustain economic growth and job
creation. IFC has invested across a variety of sectors and works to provide
access to finance for smaller businesses and support women entrepreneurs
across the region.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group,
is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the
private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries,
we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme
poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed
to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the
private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development
challenges. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
To learn more about Garanti Romania,
visit www.garantibank.ro.
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