India's Exim Bank will get $60 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTMU) to support small and medium enterprises hit by the global financial crisis.
"The trade facility, shared equally by BTMU and IFC, will improve India Exim Bank’s ability to provide access to short-term trade funding for smaller businesses, enabling them to carry out export orders," a joint statement said.
World Bank Group member IFC and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi will provide the money to the Export-Import Bank of India to help export-focused SMEs, which have suffered reduced access to finance due to the meltdown.
The transaction follows a deal between IFC and G-NEXID in May to develop effective and sustainable financing solutions to assist importers and exporters in developing nations.
G-NEXID is an organisation of emerging-market export credit agencies and development institutions focused on trade between developing countries.
"This important transaction with our longstanding partners, IFC and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, will help us provide short-term foreign-currency trade finance," Exim Bank CMD T C Venkat Subramanian said.
The statement said Exim Bank is playing a major role in providing competitive trade finance for India's export industry, with focus on SMEs, given their reduced access to foreign currency financing amid the ongoing crisis.
