US provides US $ 150mn to DFCC Bank towards facilitating inclusive growth in SL
■ „Largest loan disbursement by DFC for Sri Lanka to date
The United States is contributing to Sri Lanka’s economic resilience through the provision of a financial facility of US $ 150 million.
The facility awarded by the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to DFCC Bank as a bilateral loan will go towards the local micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector as well as women-led enterprises in Sri Lanka.
This facility from the DFC to DFCC Bank is the largest loan disbursement by the DFC for Sri Lanka to date.
This loan also contributes to DFC’S wider goals of empowering communities across the globe as well as tackling gender inequality and improving economic equity, both of which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through this partnership, DFCC Bank is geared to provide comprehensive and varied on-lending solutions to priority sectors and support its commitment to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly enhancing the country’s efforts to achieve Goal 5: Gender Equality. To achieve this, DFCC Bank will ensure that a portion of the on-lending will be primarily focused on women-led SMES, with the overarching goal of driving women entrepreneurship. This initiative tackles one of the biggest issues faced by women entrepreneurs – limited access to finance, leading to a lack of capital and thereby low business capacities.
This funding provided by the United States will support the bank’s multi-faceted, multi-thematic longterm vision 2030 under its ‘Resilient Business’ strategic pillar.