EBRD opens €150M credit line to provide loans for energy efficiency and renewables, agriculture and female entrepreneurs in Turkey

New EBRD credit line will provide loans for energy efficiency and renewables, agriculture and female entrepreneurs in partnership with Turkey’s largest bank

21-5-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — Turkey relies on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for 80 per cent of its employment and 60 per cent of its exports. Supporting Turkish SMEs by providing them with better access to finance is a priority for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Now the EBRD is providing a facility of €150 million of which €50 million is committed today to Işbank for on-lending to small and medium-sized businesses, with a focus on several areas: loans to agricultural enterprises, SMEs that want to improve their energy efficiency, small-scale renewable energy generators and women-led businesses. This facility deepens and enhances the existing relationship between the EBRD and Işbank.

The EBRD and the European Union will also provide Işbank with technical assistance.

“Turkish banks aim to return their SME lending to pre-crisis levels and the EBRD is increasing its commitment to the sector with this credit line to Işbank – our partner since 2010,” said Nick Tesseyman, EBRD Managing Director for Financial Institutions.

The deal was signed during the EBRD’s workshop for agriculture financing on 9 May, hosted by Işbank in Istanbul on the fringes of the EBRD’s Annual Meeting in Istanbul on 10-11 May.

The EBRD has so far disbursed over €380 million to Turkish small and medium-sized businesses through a series of credit lines to local partner banks, with a focus on underdeveloped regions.

Svitlana Pyrkalo
London – Tel: +44 20 7338 6002