Wednesday, 13 October 2021 19:11

BANDESAL signs US$35 million loan agreement to provide credit to MSMEs

Written by Evelyn Alas

The Banco de Desarrollo de la República de El Salvador (BANDESAL), together with the Ministry of Finance, signed today a loan agreement with the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), for an amount of US$35 million, to be placed in credits through Micro, Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (MIPYMES).

The signing of this loan will have a positive impact on the national economy, contributing to the creation of more than 4,500 new jobs and preserving more than 8,000 existing jobs in all sectors of El Salvador's formal economy.

The beneficiary sectors will be: agribusiness, manufacturing, construction, commerce, transportation, communications, services and lodging.

To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$22 million to development projects in more than 125 countries, for a total estimated cost of US$187 million. Our vision is of a world where sustainable development is a reality for all.

The OPEC Fund's work is people-centered and reiterates that project financing is aimed at meeting essential needs, including food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly in relation to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education.

"From BANDESAL we are contributing to economic reactivation, generating new financial and non-financial alternatives that allow micro, small and medium enterprises to recover their economic activity and continue to generate a great impact on the salvadoran economy and society, as the Government of El Salvador, led by President Nayib Bukele, we will continue to seek innovative and easily accessible tools", detailed Juan Pablo Durán, president of BANDESAL.

OPEC Fund Managing Director Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: "We are pleased to collaborate with BANDESAL, the Government of El Salvador and other international development finance institutions in a collective effort to provide much-needed financing and liquidity to the country's small and medium-sized enterprises. By joining forces through cooperation, we strengthen the economy and help salvadorans maintain and revitalize their businesses and jobs.

The OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund) is the only development institution with a global mandate whose Member Countries provide financing only to non-member countries. The institution works in collaboration with developing country partners and the international development community to promote economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world.

The OPEC Fund was established by OPEC Member Countries in 1976 with a clear mandate: to foster development, strengthen communities and empower people.