WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar. 5 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) today signed agreements to guarantee a local currency loan of US$3 million equivalent to be provided to the Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Limited (IDLC), a leasing company based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The local lender is the Dhaka branch of ANZ Grindlays. The company will use the funds to provide leases to small and medium-sized businesses and, by allowing it to secure term funding which is otherwise difficult to obtain in Bangladesh, will enable it to plan better for future growth. IDLC was the first leasing company in Bangladesh, which IFC helped to establish in 1986. IFC owns 10 percent of the equity, 30 percent is held by Korea Development Leasing Company (the technical partner) and its parent, 48 percent by local financial institutions, 2.5 percent each by the Aga Khan Foundation for Economic Development and the German Investment and Development Company, and 7 percent by the general public. IDLC concentrates on providing full-payout financial leases and is the market leader in Bangladesh. "Leasing is an effective way to channel funds to small and medium-scale enterprises," said Mr. Jemal-ud-din Kassum, IFC Vice President for Operations who is visiting Bangladesh. "IFC's involvement will allow the company to borrow local resources for a longer period than would otherwise have been possible and, by enhancing IDLC's credit standing and introducing it to a new lender, will also help it to raise long-term funds on its own account in the future." IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
