IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing $16 million in financing to BT Mic to improve access to finance for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and toward financial inclusion of women-owned small businesses in Romania.
The non-banking financial institutions are critical in addressing the scarcity of MSE funding, which is less than 2% of the GDP in Romania. IFC’s financing to BT Mic is designed to address the challenges that MSEs face in access to finance in Romania. Half of the IFC financing is earmarked for women-owned enterprises, seeking to empower them to play a larger role in the economy.
“Increasing the access to financing for specific segments such as the micro-enterprises is an important mechanism to support the development of the private sector especially in less developed regions in Romania” said Vittorio Di Bello, IFC Regional Industry Head, Financial Institutions Group for Europe and Central Asia. “We expect this financing to help boost financial intermediation for women entrepreneurs.”
BT Mic is a subsidiary of Banca Transilvania S.A., an IFC client since 2004, when IFC first extended a loan to the bank for mortgage on-lending. Since then, IFC has invested in the bank through a series of senior, subordinated, and convertible debt instruments.
Original source: IFC
Published on 30 January 2020
