MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Commits $520m to Small and Medium-Sized Agribusiness Enterprises in Turkey, Invests $31m in Sekerbank Bond Programme

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in London, recently announced that it has committed EUR 400 million (USD 520 million) to increase financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agribusiness sector in Turkey [1]. The funds will be made available under the “Turkey Agribusiness SME Financing Facility” (TurAFF) that offers Turkish banks a “comprehensive mechanism to address unmatched demand for the financing of agribusiness enterprises.” The implementation of TurAFF is supported by an unspecified amount of technical assistance funds provided by the US government.

EBRD is also investing TRY 60 million (USD 31 million) in an asset-guaranteed bond programme established by Sekerbank, a Turkish private commercial bank that lends to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) [2]. The funds will be used by Sekerbank to finance investments undertaken by MSMEs in lesser developed regions of....

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