BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 23
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The financing of 100 million Georgian lari (approximately $35 million) as a long-term local-currency loan to Bank of Georgia will help finance micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) told Trend.
As the company noted, a quarter of the money was earmarked for women-owned businesses.
Meanwhile, on February 7, 2020 Bank of Georgia and IFC signed a 100 million lari loan agreement with a 5-year maturity as part of the "Opportunities for Female Entrepreneurs” program, which is the global initiative of IFC in support of female entrepreneurs.
"IFC’s recent loan to Bank of Georgia is our second investment in the bank in just six months. In August 2019, IFC, supported by the Women Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility, had provided a local currency loan of Georgian lari 100 million to similarly support MSMEs and women entrepreneurs," the IFC said.
According to the IFC, in addition to that, last year the company continued their cooperation with the National Bank of Georgia to focus on environmental, social, and corporate governance standards in the country.
"The purpose of this is to help commercial banks and public companies improve performance, become more competitive, and attract investment through strengthened guidance by the regulator," said the IFC.
As the company said, the National Bank of Georgia is a pro-active and leading member of the IFC-supported Sustainable Banking Network (SBN).
"As a result of our cooperation, the National Bank has adopted the Corporate Governance code for commercial banks, which also addresses governance of environmental and social issues", the IFC added.
As reported, last spring, at the SBN Global meeting in Washington DC, the National Bank launched its Sustainable Finance Road map that defined next steps to promote sustainable finance and sound environmental, social, and governance practices
"IFC and SBN have supported the development of the documents and we are grateful to the National Bank of Georgia for this very fruitful and effective cooperation," noted the IFC.
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