A healthy, efficient and stable financial sector remains the cornerstone of a market economy. The EBRD is focused on supporting the recovery of the financial system as an effective driver of economic growth and strengthening its resilience against future economic downturns.
Investment projects are accompanied by policy dialogue and technical cooperation funds to support institution development, policy reform and local regulatory and legislative initiatives.
Readiness of the Financial Sector for the impacts of climate change
Our work with Financial Institutions is guided by the following priorities:
Supporting resilient and efficient banks
We support the development of a sound banking sector through improvement of business standards, restructuring and consolidation, and increased competition. We provide equity and debt financing to strong banks with growth potential and restructuring and privatisation opportunities. Improving corporate governance and management standards continue to be a priority as well as deploying financial solutions to unlock dysfunctional banking sectors.
Improving financial sector effectiveness and integration
We support the strengthening of the financial sector by achieving better diversification and integration into global financial markets.
We provide equity and debt financing to a broad range of non-bank financial institutions to help develop local financial infrastructure in the region.
We fund local currency loans to help reduce foreign exchange rate risks for partner institutions and clients.
We are at the forefront of supporting capital market development by investing in capital market debt and structured finance transactions.
Our Local Currency and Capital Markets (LC2) Development Strategic Initiative, launched in May 2010, also aims to enhance the macroeconomic, regulatory and market framework to ensure long-term, sustainable and liquid local currency markets.
We also have a dedicated Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) which aims to foster international trade in our regions. Through the programme we provide guarantees and short term loans to banks in countries where we invest and also provides training in trade finance for local bank employees.
Enhancing financial intermediation
We promote deeper and broader financial intermediation in our countries through innovative financial products to reach under-served market segments and strengthen competition and market effectiveness in the financial sector.
We support SMEs through lending to local banks and leasing companies which use the proceeds to extend credit to local businesses. We also support microfinance institutions with credit lines and technical advice to stimulate lending to micro-businesses. We have established Women in Business programmes across the region to facilitate economic inclusion.
The Financial Institutions team works closely with the Energy Efficiency and Climate Change team on Green Economy Financing Facilities (GEFFs). These facilities provide financing to local financial institutions, specifically targeted for on-lending for energy efficiency projects.
