IFC Provides $50m Loan to Produbanco to Support Economic Recovery in Ecuador  

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Quito, Ecuador, December 9, 2020//- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has provided a senior loan of $50 million to Banco de la Producción S.A. Produbanco, a large local bank member of Promerica Financial Corporation, one of Central America´s largest financial conglomerates.

The loan will allow the bank to extend new credit to companies and vulnerable segments of the population whose cash flows have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investment aims to help businesses with disrupted cash flows to continue operations, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and women-owned MSMEs.
The funding is part of IFC’s $8 billion global COVID-19 fast-track financing facility, aimed at helping companies stay afloat during the ongoing pandemic. This investment comes under the Working Capital Solutions (WCS) program of the COVID-19 response envelope, which provides $2 billion globally to emerging-market banks, enabling them to support struggling firms and stem job losses.
“IFC’s loan facility is timely and crucial. In line with the banking sector in Ecuador, IFC’s investment will help us offer payment relief to clients, while offering new loans to help them sustain operations, thereby retaining jobs and contributing to the economic recovery process” affirmed Rubén Eguiguren, VP of Corporate Banking at Produbanco.
IFC’s loan to Produbanco will also sustain the resilience of trade finance markets as it is expected to support the bank’s export clients.
 
Elizabeth Martínez de Marcano, IFC Manager for the Andean Region, said: “A strong financial sector will be key to Ecuador’s economic recovery. Our past experiences have taught us that smaller businesses are especially vulnerable to global crises.
Keeping them solvent is vital to saving jobs and limiting the economic damage. Further, IFC’s countercyclical financing will inspire investor confidence, protect jobs and businesses, accelerating the nation’s post pandemic recovery.”
IFC continues to support private sector development in Ecuador, with a committed exposure of over US$340 million in the country as of October 2020.
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