Brac Bank to receive USD 30m IFC loan

Dhaka : International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank Group, is set to provide Brac Bank a USD 30 million loan, coming to the aid of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and larger companies hit hard by the coronavirus impacts.
The investment will help to keep businesses open and preserve jobs, which is critical to sustaining the Bangladeshi economy, said the IFC, which is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets, in a statement.
With the financing, Brac Bank is expected to extend loans to its SME and corporate customers, supporting businesses that were now coping with a new wave of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. 
"The Covid scenario is challenging and at the same time difficult for both banks and their SME and corporate customers. We hope that the partnership with the IFC would help us continue supporting the Covid-impacted businesses and help them recover," Selim RF Hussain, Managing Director and CEO of Brac Bank said.
The financing package is part of the IFC's USD 8 billion global Covid-19 fast-track financing facility to support companies during the ongoing public health crisis. This new investment comes under the Working Capital Solutions (WCS) programme of the Covid-19 response envelope, which is providing USD 2 billion globally to emerging-market banks, enabling them to support struggling firms.
This project will also be supported by the International Development Association's Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility, which is also supporting the IFC's WCS programme with a first-loss guarantee of up to USD 215 million in eligible countries.
In Bangladesh, the IFC has provided a total of USD 260 million in working capital solutions to banks and liquidity support to companies since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, including this new funding to Brac Bank.