DUSHANBE, December 1, Asia-Plus — The International finance Corporation (IFC) plans to grant a credit line for US$2.5 million to Tajikistan’s TojikSodirotBonk.
According to TojikSodirotBonk’s headquarters in Dushanbe, IFC and TojikSodirotBonk will sign an agreement for IFC to provide a credit line of US$2.5 million to TojikSodirotBonk in Dushanbe on December 4. A source at TojikSodirotBonk said that the loan is for on-lending to the country’s small and medium private enterprises.
“It is the first credit line granted by IFC to our bank,” said the source, “TojikSodirotBonk also continues cooperating with the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction (EBRD) on the Tajik Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) Finance Facility (TMSEFF) Project.” According to him, the EBRD and TojikSodirotBonk marked the signing of a US$2.5 million credit line in Dushanbe in early November. “It was the second credit line,” the source aid, noting that the first credit line for US$2 million was signed between TojikSodirotBonk and the EBRD on August 17, 2004. The EBRD credit line will enable TojikSodirotBonk to expand its lending to MSEs.
According to the source, TojikSodirotBonk has provided 80.1 million somonis in loans over the past eleven months, which is 11 percent more than last year. The source said that of this amount 31.2 million somonis have been provided in micro loans to 3,034 people, which is 90 percent of a total number of recipients. Of this amount, 26 million somonis or 80 percent have been provided under the TMSEFF project.
TojikSodirotBonk provides a wide range of services to corporate clients, MSEs and individuals, including micro-lending, money remittances and deposit.
Established in March 1992, TojikSodirotBonk has nine branches across the republic. It is third among Tajikistan’s banks in terms of assets. Over the first nine months of this year, TojikSodirotBonks’ authorized capital has amounted to 31.4 million somonis.
