|
Beirut, Lebanon, January 16, 2012
—IFC, member of the World Bank Group, and Credit Libanais Group signed a trade finance agreement that will help Lebanon’s private sector access global import and export markets, spurring trade, production and economic growth, and generating employment.
Credit Libanais is the fifth bank in Lebanon to join IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program, which promotes trade with emerging markets by supporting the flow of goods and services to and from developing countries. Under this agreement, IFC risk guarantees will allow Credit Libanais to offer its clients import and export financing.
“IFC guarantees will help to solidify trust between foreign banks and firms and their Lebanese counterparts,” said Michel Khadige, Deputy General Manager of Credit Libanais Group. “This trade finance agreement will help Lebanon’s private sector access global markets, and in turn contribute to our economic growth and jobs creation.”
Since the program’s inception in Lebanon in 2006, IFC has provided trade finance guarantees worth almost $750 million to financial institutions in the country to help their client businesses access global import and export markets, guarantees that help drive trade and create jobs. IFC’s other partner banks in Lebanon include Banque Libano-Francaise, Bank of Beirut, BLC Bank, and Fransabank.
"Through IFC’s Global Trade Finance Program bank network, local financial institutions can establish working partnerships with a vast number of major international and regional banks, scaling-up access to finance and enhancing their global reach,” said Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
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, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
About Credit Libanais
Credit Libanais Group is the eighth-largest bank in Lebanon in terms of balance sheet size, customer deposits, and equity base. It has 65 branches and 18 majority-owned subsidiaries and affiliates in Lebanon and abroad. Its total balance sheet amounted to $6.5 billion as of December 2010, representing approximately 22 percent of the country’s real GDP. For more information, visit
www.creditlibanais.com.lb
Stay Connected
|
