15 November 2021 09:14 am Views - 320
Symbolic handing over of US $ 150 million bilateral loan (from left) Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs NSB Economic Officer Charlotte Volpe, Embassy of the United States of America Commercial Officer Luis G. Salas, Embassy of the United States of America Sri Lanka Chargé d’Affaires Martin T. Kelly, DFCC Bank PLC Director/Chief Executive Officer Lakshman Silva, DFCC Bank PLC Senior Vice President Treasury Resource Mobilisation and Capital Markets Kapila Nanayakkara and DFCC Bank PLC Vice President Resource Mobilisation and Capital Markets Channa Dayaratne
DFCC Bank, one of the premier commercial Banks in Sri Lanka, in its path towards securing a resilient nation through the facilitation of equitable and inclusive economic growth, seeks to comprehensively utilise one of the largest credit lines of US $ 150 million available to the bank from the U.S. government’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
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Handing over of the agreement of US $ 150 million bilateral loan (from left) Embassy of the United States of America Sri Lanka Chargé d’Affaires Martin T. Kelly and DFCC Bank PLC Director/Chief Executive Officer Lakshman Silva |
The credit line is for the purpose of on-lending to local micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sectors.
The credit line from DFC is the largest loan provided by DFC, thus far to any Sri Lankan partner institution. The loan was granted with the aim of reaching underserved communities across the globe with the intention of tackling pressing issues such as gender inequality and lack of economic equity, both of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the credit line and the benefits, DFCC Bank CEO Lakshman Silva stated, “We are delighted to receive this line of credit from the USA, which will help to drive and facilitate DFCC Bank’s overall lending objectives, whilst spurring the economic growth of the country, which has been impacted by the on-going pandemic. True to its heritage, DFCC Bank, over the past 66 years, has funded a number of trailblazing projects that have driven SME development in Sri Lanka previously to unimaginable levels. We are thankful to DFC for the confidence they have placed in DFCC Bank and for selecting us to spearhead their overall objective of ensuring inclusivity and gender equality in Sri Lanka.”
Through this partnership, DFCC Bank’s key objective is to provide a variety of comprehensive on-lending solutions to the SME and MSME sectors, both of which are considered as priority sectors by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Ensuring economic equity and inclusivity is of utmost importance to the bank and is part of its commitment to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly enhancing the countries efforts to achieve Goal 5: Gender Equality.
DFCC Bank will ensure that a portion of the on-lending will be focused on women-led SMEs, with the overarching goal of driving women entrepreneurship. This initiative tackles one of the biggest issues faced by women entrepreneurs – limited access to finance, leading to a lack of capital and thereby low business capacities.
In addition to driving women’s empowerment and gender equality, DFCC Bank focuses to enhance agriculture, manufacturing and export-oriented industries while funding through other sources eco-centric, sustainable, activities such as renewable energy generation in the form of solar power and mini-hydro projects to create value through a structured approach.
DFCC Bank will continue to aid the development of the nation, aligned with its triple bottom line value creation framework for the years to come, with similar inclusivity-focused initiatives that stand to benefit all stakeholders.
ALPEN Capital (ME) Limited acted as the financial advisor to the transaction.