The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is supporting the expansion of non-banking financial services in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a EUR 6 million loan to Partner Microcredit Foundation for on-lending to micro and small enterprises.
The funding will help the company to develop energy efficiency loans for housing and agricultural products following the destructive impact of the floods in May 2014, according to EBRD. Medium to long-term refinancing for microfinancial institutions is limited and has become less available in the last few years in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the bank said. Despite the relatively low share of the banking sector assets, the microfinance sector is an important source of funding for more than 200,000 clients which are not served by local banks, the press release said. The financing of this project comes under the EBRD’s Small Business Initiative, a platform for supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through the Bank’s partner financial institutions.
„We are pleased to secure this way of financing with the EBRD. It will help Partner Microcredit Foundation to strengthen its position and increase competitiveness in the microfinance market”, said Senad Sinanović, head of Partner Microcredit Foundation, as quoted by Indikator.ba.
