DUSHANBE, November 3, Asia-Plus – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing new credit lines for on-lending to small and micro clients in Tajikistan.
According to the EBRD Dushanbe Office, the EBRD will provide a US$2.5 million credit line to TojikSodirotBonk and a US$1 million credit line to the non-bank micrifinance institution (MFI) Imon. The source says appropriate documents will be signed in Dushanbe today.
Launched on 19 November 2003, the $7 million Tajik Micro and Small Enterprise Finance Facility (TMSEF) has been consistently in such strong demand with Tajik micro and small enterprises (MSEs) that, by the end of 2005, 9,174 sub-loans for more than $25 million had been disbursed. The loans have enabled the smallest entrepreneurs – more than half of them women, often traders buying goods around Central Asia or in China or Dubai for resale at home – to expand operations.
TojikSodirotBonk was one of the first participate in the EBRD’s TMSEF program. TojikSodirotBonk has to date provided US$1.9 million in loans to more than 1,500 small and micro clients. The additional $2.5 million loan will further expand available financing to TojikSodirotBonk’s small business clients.
