WASHINGTON, D.C., May 26 -- Stefania Berla has been appointed Syndications Officer in the Syndications Group at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington, DC. IFC's growing syndications team is doing ever-increasing volumes of co-financing with commercial banks for private sector projects in the developing world. In the past four years, IFC's co-financing activities have increased from US$398 million in FY 1989 to US$1.38 billion in FY 1992.
Ms. Berla was with Citibank International for nine years in the Capital Markets Group, based in London. At Citibank, Ms. Berla worked primarily on syndications and other capital market products for Southern Europe.
Since initiating its syndications program, IFC has placed over US$4.6 billion in loan participations with 319 financial institutions. IFC's ability to mobilize commercial bank resources through its participation mechanism is an important factor in its success in financing projects in the developing world -- including many countries where banks are still reluctant to increase their direct loan exposure.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of direct loan and equity financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
