Charlotte Volpe, NSB Economic Officer, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Luis G. Salas, Commercial Officer, Embassy of the United States of America, Martin T. Kelly, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Embassy of the United States of America, Sri Lanka. Lakshman Silva, Director/ Chief Executive Officer, DFCC Bank, Kapila Nanayakkara, Senior Vice President, Treasury, Resource Mobilisation and Capital Markets, DFCC Bank, Channa Dayaratne, Vice President, Resource Mobilisation & Capital Markets, DFCC Bank, symbolic hand over the USD 150 million bilateral loan
DFCC Bank, seeks to comprehensively utilize one of the largest credit lines of USD 150 million available to the Bank from the U.S. government’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The credit line is for the purpose of on-lending to local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sectors.
The credit line from DFC, is the largest loan provided by the DFC, thus far to any Sri Lankan partner institution. The loan was granted with the aim of reaching underserved communities across the globe with the intention of tackling pressing issues such as gender inequality and lack of economic equity, both of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. DFCC Bank CEO, Lakshman Silva, said “We are delighted to receive this line of credit from the USA which will help to drive and facilitate DFCC Bank’s overall lending objectives, whilst spurring the economic growth of the country which has been impacted by the on-going pandemic.”
Through this partnership, DFCC Bank’s key objective is to provide a variety of comprehensive on-lending solutions to the SME and MSME sectors, both of which are considered as priority sectors by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. Ensuring economic equity and inclusivity is of utmost importance to the Bank and is part of its commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly enhancing the countries efforts to achieve Goal 5: Gender Equality.
DFCC Bank will ensure that a portion of the on-lending will be focused on women-led SMEs, with the overarching goal of driving women entrepreneurship. This initiative tackles one of the biggest issues faced by women entrepreneurs – limited access to finance, leading to a lack of capital and thereby low business capacities. In addition to driving women’s empowerment and gender equality, DFCC Bank focuses to enhance agriculture, manufacturing, and export-oriented industries while funding through other sources. ALPEN Capital (ME) Limited acted as the financial advisor to the transaction.
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