EXIM Bank signs new US$20-million loan deal with Petrocaribe Development Fund

Friday, January 27, 2012

EXIM Bank's sustained thrust to increase and strengthen its capital base is reaping dividends through a new US$20-million loan deal which the Bank signed Wednesday with the Petrocaribe Development Fund. This capital injection will greatly boost EXIM Bank's ability to continue discharging its mandate of providing competitively priced financing solutions to ensure that the private sector builds its competitiveness, increases trade and most importantly, stimulates growth in the economy.

In inking the deal with Petrocaribe, EXIM Bank's Managing Director, Lisa Bell, said, “In order for the Bank to achieve its strategic objective, we must continue our quest of engaging international financing and multilateral agencies, from time to time, into meaningful negotiations to secure cheaper loans to meet our loan utilisation and profitability targets”. She continued by saying, “It is for this reason that we welcome this further show of confidence by Petrocaribe which will aid in springboarding our efforts to continue providing low cost financing solutions in order to stimulate increased economic activities in targeted sectors within Jamaica's economy”.

Minister of Finance, Dr Peter Phillips in endorsing the deal said: “The signing of this agreement forms part of the administration's firm commitment to create the right environment and lay the appropriate foundation required to spur growth and development in the SME sector in order to improve the economic condition of the Jamaican people.

The immediate spinoff from this loan deal is that SMEs operating in the productive sector can now benefit from a new accelerated loan processing initiative which allows them to access much needed working capital within just five working days for short-term loans and 15 working days for medium term loans, for a maximum value of $40 million. This, as the Bank moves to become more nimble in responding to the demand from SMEs for quicker access to cheaper loans. This special offer runs from now until March 30, 2012.

This marks the fourth loan deal which EXIM Bank has successfully negotiated with the Petrocaribe Fund since it first commenced its lending relationship with the Fund in 2007. Funds sourced from this organisation have primarily been used for the development of small and medium-sized businesses with export potential and/or which provide linkages to the tourism and export sectors.

For the financial year which ended in 2011, the Bank successfully achieved its loan utilisation target of J$6.5 billion with a more aggressive target of $7 billion and $7.5 billion set by the management and board of directors for the 2012 and 2013 financial year, respectively.