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1st Kyrgyz deal under new micro-finance framework
$2 million loan for Bai Tushum Financial Fund
Bai Tushum Financial Fund, one of the leading microfinance institutions (MFIs)
in the Kyrgyz Republic, is the first corporation in the central Asian republic
to benefit from a new EBRD initiative to support small and micro-business.
Under a $10 million framework the Bank will provide funds for on-lending to
local financial organisations with a successful track record.
A $2 million loan will enable Bai Tushum to extend more finance to farmers and
small businesses throughout the country, as the fund specialises in
agricultural and rural borrowing. It was set up as a result of the merger
between ACDI/VOCA and Swiss Caritas microlending programmes in 1997 and has
disbursed over 10,000 loans worth more than $15 million since. In the medium
term, Bai Tushum seeks to transform itself into a deposit-taking corporation.
TaiwanICDF is supporting the new MFI framework with $1.5 million, $300,000 of
which will be used for the support the loan to Bai Tushum. Technical
assistance will also be made available from the ETC Multi-Donor Fund and will
provide Bai Tushum with a range of consultancy services.
Daniel Berg, Head of the EBRD’s Resident Office in the Kyrgyz Republic, said
the Bank has successfully implemented microlending programmes with a number of
financial institutions in the country. Working with successful microfinance
institutions such as Bai Tushum allows the EBRD to further expand and deepen
its outreach, financing a wider and more divers range of clients.
Gulnara Shamshieva, CEO of Bai Tushum, said: “The fund´s first medium-term
loan from an international financial institution will enable us to fulfil our
expansion plans. There is great demand for micro and small finance in the
Kyrgyz Republic, particularly from farmers and other rural entrepreneurs.”
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