US provides $ 150 m to DFCC Bank to facilitate inclusive growth of local MSMEs

Monday, 12 July 2021 00:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

US Ambassador Alaina Teplitz

DFCC Bank Director/CEO Lakshman Silva

The United States is contributing to Sri Lanka’s economic resilience through the provision of a financial facility of $ 150 m.

The facility awarded by the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to DFCC Bank as a bilateral loan will

go towards the local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector, as well as women-led enterprises in Sri Lanka.

This facility from the US International Development Finance Corporation to DFCC Bank is the largest loan disbursement by the DFC for Sri Lanka to date. This loan also contributes to DFC’s wider goals of empowering communities across the globe, as well as tackling gender inequality, and improving economic equity, both of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through this partnership, DFCC Bank is geared to provide comprehensive and varied on-lending solutions to priority sectors and support its commitment to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly enhancing the country’s efforts to achieve Goal 5: Gender Equality.

To achieve this, DFCC Bank will ensure that a portion of the on-lending will be primarily 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.

This funding provided by the United States will support the bank’s multi-faceted, multi-thematic long-term vision 2030 under its ‘Resilient Business’ strategic pillar. DFCC Bank will continue to aid the development of the nation, aligned with their triple-bottom line value creation framework for the years to come, with similar inclusivity-focused initiatives that stand to benefit all stakeholders. Alpen Capital (ME) Ltd. acted as the financial advisor to the transaction.