BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 2
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is extending a $10 million trade finance-guarantee facility to Ipoteka Bank to support Uzbekistan’s exporters and importers and help protect the country’s economy from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports with reference to the IFC.
With this agreement, JSCMB Ipoteka-bank becomes the fourth Uzbek bank to join IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP).
“Supporting the private sector is critical to restoring economic stability and preserving jobs during these challenging times. The trade line to Ipoteka-bank will enable the bank to support importers, distributors, and exporters of Uzbekistan’s products, thus facilitating trade, a major driver of economic growth and development,” said Cassandra Colbert, IFC Regional Manager for Central Asia.
IFC’s GTFP provides risk mitigation under a $5 billion envelope by guaranteeing trade-related payment obligations of banks in developing economies. Since its inception in 2005, the program has issued more than 63,000 guarantees for trade-finance transactions to support the growth of various sectors including infrastructure, agriculture, and health care. IFC’s Trade Solutions has supported more than $180 billion in trade trade, in more than 90 countries.
The guarantees are transaction-specific and can be supported by a variety of underlying instruments such as letters of credit, trade-related promissory notes, accepted drafts, bills of exchange, guarantees, bid and performance bonds, and advance-payment guarantees. The guarantees are available for all private-sector trade transactions that meet IFC's eligibility criteria, the message said.
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.
"We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2019, we invested more than $19 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity," said Colbert.
JSCMB Ipoteka- bank is a financial institution with extensive experience in the mortgage lending housing finance and trade finance.
In addition, JSСMB Ipoteka-bank is considered to be a large and universal bank that provides a wide range of banking services through a well-developed network of 39 branches, due to which it has geographical coverage throughout Uzbekistan.
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