Above: NDB’s Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Kelum Edirisinghe (left) and IFC’s Regional Director, Financial Institutions Group, Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Allen Forlemu exchanging the agreements between NDB and IFC.
National Development Bank PLC has further strengthened its strategic partnership with the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, on three (3) distinct fronts, to support its journey forward as an impactful contributor to Sri Lanka’s banking and financial services landscape.
The relationship between NDB and IFC, which dates back to 1998 having collaborated on multiple fronts over the years, will now be extended to cover a Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) and a trade finance facility focusing on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, and an Advisory Engagement to help the bank in elevating Transaction Banking, Supply Chain Finance business and enhance Climate Risk Management practices, the bank said in an official announcement..
The RSF, which is soon to be operationalised, is a part of IFC’s Small Loan Guarantee Programme (SLGP) under which IFC will equally share risks with NDB for all eligible facilities under the said programme. The programme has been designed with a greater focus on supporting lending for agriculture value chains, SME exporters, and women empowerment, amongst other social betterment causes. As an integral part of the said programme, IFC will also provide embedded advisory support which will further strengthen NDB’s capacity to effectively deploy the facility through targeted training initiatives, while also enhancing the capabilities of the bank’s SME clientele.
The second agreement comprises a trade finance facility under IFC’s Global Trade Finance Programme(GTFP). This unfunded facility will be utilised to guarantee NDB’s trade-related payment obligations, thereby supporting the bank’s international trade activities. Through this engagement, NDB will collaborate with IFC’s trade finance experts and benefit from IFC’s strong credit standing and deep technical expertise in the said subject matter.
In addition to financing, NDB also enters into a series of advisory initiatives. With support under the Global SME Finance Facility (GSMEF), IFC will provide technical assistance to NDB to modernise the bank’s Transaction Banking (TB) and Supply Chain Finance (SCF) business. This partnership will support the enhancement of SCF and TB business operations, helping to optimise working capital management within corporate value chains and close the financing gap for SMEs, with a particular emphasis on women-led businesses.
Further, with support from the government of Japan, IFC will assist the bank in conducting a climate risk diagnostic and physical risk materiality assessment, forming the foundation for establishing a comprehensive climate risk management framework. This engagement will enable NDB to formally identify climate risk as a key risk category and integrate it into the bank’s overall risk management framework and strategy.
Commenting on the landmark partnerships, Kelum Edirisinghe, Director/ Chief Executive Officer of NDB stated that: “We are very pleased to further strengthen our existing partnership with IFC. NDB is currently on a strong growth momentum, having just embarked on its new strategic roadmap and charting its course towards an ambitious 2030. This further collaboration with IFC comes at this crucial juncture where the bank’s efforts will be further augmented with IFC’s vast technical expertise and funding strength.”
Allen Forlemu, IFC Regional Director, Financial Institutions Group, Asia and the Pacific added that: “When SMEs thrive, entire economies move forward. Access to capital remains a critical priority for Sri Lankan entrepreneurs, and our partnership with the National Development Bank is designed to address this by helping SMEs access the financing and the know-how needed to scale and grow.”
A protest was held in front of Attorney General’s Department Colombo today by a group of individuals calling for the Removal of the Attorney General Parinda Ranasinghe .
Meteorology Department forecasted that showers will occur at times in Northern, North-central, Eastern and Northwestern provinces and in Matale and Nuwara-Eliya districts.
Leave Comments