Friday, January 20 2012 17:21
ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank to receive 30 mln USD from IFC
ArmInfo. On January 20 ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) signed a loan agreement worth 30 mln USD. The funds will be on-lent to micro-, small and medium enterprises, including those in the agriculture sphere. The document was signed by Director General of ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank Stepan Gishyan and Coordinator of Investment Programs of the IFC Office in Armenia Arman Barkhudaryan.
Gishyan told the journalists that this is the second agreement on lending to small business and agriculture signed with the IFC. The first agreement worth 20 mln USD was signed ¢ 2011. The funds were completely distributed among nearly 3,000 local borrowers. "The new financial resources from the IFC will increase our opportunities in the sphere of lending to micro-, small and medium business and will intensify the lending in the rural communities of Armenia via the wide branch network of the Bank", Gishyan said. He added that under the new program the funds will be provided for 5 years, which will allow satisfying the demand of economy crediting in 2012-2013. He also pointed out that the loans will be provided at the interest rate of 15-16% per annum.
For his part, Arman Barkhudaryan said that the given agreement aims to finance the SMEs in the agriculture sphere in Armenia. "This is a new stage of successful cooperation of the IFC and ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, which will support farmers in all the regions of Armenia due to its wide branch network", he stressed.
According to ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, as of Jan 1 2012 the assets of the Bank amounted to 222 bln AMD, credit portfolio - 140 bln AMD, capital - 43.7 bln AMD, profit - 5.8 bln AMD.
To note, Armenia became an IFC member in 1995. At the moment, the IFC has approved 28 programs worth $147 mln to support the financial market, as well as the sphere of production, energy and ore mining industry. The IFC has 10% pct stocks in the capitals of Ardshininvestbank and INECOBANK.
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