EBRD lends $100 million in support of SMEs in central, eastern Anatolia

ISTANBUL

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said it lent Turkey’s Finansbank $100 million to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agricultural regions of Turkey in a written statement Oct. 13.
 
“We are pleased to deepen our cooperation with Finansbank by providing this new medium-term funding to help the bank manage the maturity mismatch that remains a challenge for the Turkish banking sector and limits SME financing,” said EBRD Director for Insurance and Financial Services Noel Edison.

With its financing, the EBRD will support SMEs in central and eastern Anatolia, according to the statement. Up to 40 percent of the funds will be channeled to agricultural lending as agribusiness remains one of the Turkish economy’s most important sectors, contributing 7.4 percent to the country’s GDP and comprising well over 20 percent of its active labor force. 

To date, the EBRD has invested over 6 billion euros in Turkey through about 160 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance. It has also mobilized over 12 billion euros for these ventures from other sources of financing.