Ardshinbank raised 10 million US dollars to extend its SME lending

ArmInfo. Ardshinbank signed a US $10 million loan agreement with the World Business Capital (WBC) on June 30, 2016, under the guarantee of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation - OPIC. The press-service of the bank has told ArmInfo that the funding will be channeled to finance Ardshinbank's small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.

Under the project Ardshinbank will extend loans to its SME customers with rates starting from 11% and a tenor of up to 10 years.

According to the Financial Rating of Armenian Banks prepared by the Agency of Rating Marketing Information (ArmInfo), Ardshinbank has increased SME lending almost 2-fold to 39.2 bln AMD in Q1 2016, loans to SMEs account for 12.4% of the bank's credit portfolio versus 7% in the beginning of the year. The total loan portfolio of the bank has increased in y-o-y terms by 26% reaching 315.1 bln AMD as of April 1, 2016 (68.3% of the assets), the bank holds the second position by this parameter. By its branch coverage the bank holds the 3rd position, it has 55 branches, 13 of which are located in Yerevan, 36 in all the regions of Armenia and 6 in Nagorno Karabakh. Ardshinbank is the only private entity in Armenia that issued Eurobonds in the international financial markets and has ratings from two international major rating agencies (Moody's and Fitch) equal to the rating of Sovereign.

To note, World Business Capital is a commercial finance company, which provides loans to support SMEs globally.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is the U.S. Government's development finance institution, which supports US private investments in more than 160 countries in the world.