NDB Bank disclosed that they have
secured a long term funding line of USD75Mn from the Development Finance
Corporation of the United States to further the Bank’s support for the Small
and Medium businesses and infrastructure funding during these challenging
times.
The United States is providing a
welcome boost to Small and Medium businesses in Sri Lanka struggling with the
impact of the pandemic. The United
States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is awarding a USD75M
funding line to NDB Bank to support its work in expanding and strengthening the
SME sector. DFC is the development
finance institution of the United States federal government, primarily
responsible for providing and facilitating the financing of private development
projects in lower- and middle-income countries.
The funding line comes at a time
when the country requires long-term, stable funding to help the economy recover
from the effects of the pandemic. With its DNA deeply rooted in development
banking, NDB is ideally placed to enhance the impact of the funding in conjunction
with its flagship propositions Jayagamu Sri Lanka for uplifting
entrepreneurship in SME and Vanithabhimani for uplifting women driven
businesses. Further, the investments the group is making in technology,
including, but not limited to, virtual KYC and digital payment platforms, will
improve financial inclusivity and enable SME’s to seamlessly transact with NDB.
These investments advance DFC’s
development strategy, the Roadmap for Impact, and are part of DFC’s 2X Women’s Initiative which aligns with NDB’s
Banking on Women initiatives aimed at improving financial inclusivity, gender
equity and supporting women led organisations.
NDB Bank, the fourth largest
private bank in Sri Lanka, recognized as the best bank in Sri Lanka 2020 by The
Banker UK, and best bank in Sri Lanka 2021 by Global Finance USA, has been at
the forefront of supporting MSME’s,women led enterprises and project finance.
“DFC is proud of our investment in
National Development Bank, a leader in SME and gender-lens investing in Sri
Lanka,” said Algene Sajery, Vice
President of DFC’s Office of External Affairs and Head of Global Gender Equity
Initiatives. “We applaud NDB Group’s ongoing commitment to
unlocking the full economic potential of women in Sri Lanka, both by ensuring
women are employed by and in senior management positions in their own
organization, and by committing to lending a portion of DFC’s loan to
businesses that are owned by women, led by women, or provide a product or
service that empowers women.”
Speaking on this transaction,
Dimantha Seneviratne, Group CEO of NDB Group said; “While this is not the first
time NDB has raised significant foreign funding,
this is the first time we are borrowing from a U.S. based Development Finance
Institution (DFI) whose development aspirations are aligned to that of NDB.
Further the timing of the facility cannot be better, coming at a critical
juncture in the economy impacted by the 3rd wave of the pandemic”. He further noted, NDB was at the forefront in
supporting the SME sector in these challenging times, disbursing the 4th
largest quantum of Saubaghya loans. This facility will help NDB support this
vital sector of the economy with longer term funding at their time of need. NDB
recently tied up as the main Banking partner for SL @ 100 initiative funded by
USAID, which promotes SME’s to upgrade to higher levels through strategic
alignment initiatives.
NDB Group is the only financial
conglomerate in the country, providing financials service covering Banking,
Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Securities trading and venture capital
funding. The digital convenience it offers through its award-winning mobile app
NEOS and NEOS online complements its 2 phygital branches and 111 physical branches,
respectively, 150+ ATM’s and CRM’s across the country. Its continued investment
in technology is aimed at providing access to seamless financial solutions
across the NDB group, helping develop a financially empowered Sri Lanka.
NDB Investment Bank was the co
financial advisor to the transaction along with Alpen Capital (ME) Limited.
