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Washington, D.C., March 30, 2009
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, announced that Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (BIF) has become the first bank in Peru to join its Global Trade Finance Program, to increase short-term financing for export and import small and medium local firms and help mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis.
With IFC’s support, BIF will expand its trade finance capacity, as an issuing bank, to provide loans for pre-export and post-export operations in key job-creating sectors in Peru, including textiles, manufacturing and fishery.
The IFC Global Trade Finance Program supports trade with emerging markets worldwide by providing risk mitigation. By extending and complementing banks’ capacity to deliver trade finance solutions, IFC aims to increase developing countries’ share of global trade and promote South-South flows of goods and services. The program now has a network of more than 300 participating banks from around the world.
“Joining IFC’s Trade Finance Program will help us provide trade solutions to our clients and take advantage of the opportunities brought by the recently signed bilateral free-trade agreement with the U.S., one of Peru’s main trading partner.” said Juan Ignacio de La Vega, BIF’s General Manager.
Roberto Albisetti, IFC Country Manager for Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, said, “IFC´s support to BIF is in line with our strategy in Peru to improve access to finance for SMEs and to expand global trade opportunities for local firms, helping mitigate the impact of the financial crisis”.
IFC strategy in Peru is to promote sustainable development by supporting private sector projects. Priority sectors include the financial, microfinance, infrastructure, agribusiness, and tourism sectors. IFC is also developing programs to enhance social benefits of the extractive industry and has extensive programs to help improve investment climate for local businesses. As of June 2008, IFC’s committed portfolio in the country was close to $500 million.
Since launching the Global Trade Finance Program, IFC has issued $1.3 billion in guarantees to facilitate trade flows with Latin America and the Caribbean. The network of issuing banks for the region has expanded to 33 banks in 13 countries. More than 40 percent of the guarantees issued benefited local small and midsize businesses and supported interregional trade flows between emerging market nations. For more information about the program, contact Antonio Alves, Head of Trade Finance for Latin America and the Caribbean Region, at
aalves1@ifc.org
, or visit
www.ifc.org/gtfp
.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org/lac
.
About BIF
BIF has been an IFC client since 2007 and is the fifth-largest commercial private bank in Peru. Since its foundation, it has focused on commercial banking with emphasis in foreign trade and corporate banking. For more information please visit:
www.bif.com.pe
.
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