DUSHANBE
, June 12, Asia-Plus – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expanding Tajikistan Micro and Small Enterprise Finance Facility (TMSEF) by bringing the Panjakent branch of “Eskhata” into the program.
A Micro Small Enterprise Finance Facility Unit has been opened in the Eskhata branch in the northern district of Panjakent, according to information from the EBRD Dushanbe Office.
The source says the Panjakent branch of “Eskhata” – one of four major Tajik banking chains to participate — joins TMSEF in mid-May. Now the Panjakent branch of Eskhata Bank can offer MSE loans to local entrepreneurs for sums from US$100 to US$10,000.
We will recall that the EBRD launched the Tajikistan Micro and Small Enterprise Finance Facility (TMSEFF) in November 2003. Less than three years after launching the TMSEFF the EBRD is more than quadrupling the size of the popular $7 million fund by injecting a further $25 million. Launched on
19 November 2003
, the $7 million TMSEFF has been consistently in such strong demand with Tajik 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 to expand operations. Although the maximum size of micro sub-loan to date has been $30,000, the largest disbursed to date has been $25,000 and the average has been $2,687. Repayment is unusually punctual, with only 0.15 per cent of loans in arrears by end-2005. As
Tajikistan
’s business community grows, the EBRD and its partner banks are using the new funds to gradually raise the upper limit for micro-loans to $100,000, as growing businesses require larger loans for investment purposes.
