Santo Domingo/Washington, D.C., April 17, 2013
- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today announced a cooperation agreement with Asociación La Nacional to strengthen its risk management and corporate governance practices, and consolidate its strategic planning to better serve the low income housing and small and medium enterprise (SME) sectors in the Dominican Republic.
“IFC’s support will help La Nacional ensure the quality of its mortgage credit portfolio and allow it to accurately assess the credit worthiness of SMEs, which have historically had limited access to credit,” said Francisco Melo, Vice President of La Nacional. “We hope this will help meet the demand for financing, especially in the SME and mid to lower income housing finance market.”
Improving its risk management will allow La Nacional to disburse approximately US$65 million in new loans in five years. IFC’s Advisory Services will complement a 195 million Dominican pesos (about US$5 million) investment made by IFC in La Nacional in December. La Nacional has used these funds to provide mortgage lending and financing to more clients, including loans at fixed rates for up to five years.
“IFC is committed to working with La Nacional to support a more inclusive financial system, especially in the housing and micro, small and medium enterprise sectors, which are fundamental to the Dominican economy,” said Ghada Teima, IFC Access to Finance Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Our advisory services work will support La Nacional in these important sectors.”
Since the Dominican Republic became a member of IFC in 1961, IFC has invested $937.9 million in the country’s private sector, including $292.6 million in mobilization. IFC also implements advisory programs to improve the business climate, build skills of local entrepreneurs, and promote access to finance and markets for small businesses.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, our investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About La Nacional
La Nacional was founded in 1972 and is the largest
Asociación
in the Dominican Republic. Initially focused solely on providing mortgage loans for low-income housing, it has diversified its scope of products since 2003, offering commercial loans, particularly to small and medium enterprises and consumer loans. La Nacional is headquartered in Santo Domingo with 50 branches, among which 23 are located outside of the province of Santo Domingo, with presence in the north, east and center of the country.
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