MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Lending $8.5m to Minsk Transit Bank (MTBank) for Microfinance, SME Finance in Belarus

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral institution, is lending BYB 20 million (USD 8.5 million) to Minsk Transit Bank (MTBank), Belarus’s “largest independent private bank,” for on-lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The loan is denominated in local-currency to off-load the foreign-exchange risk that Belarusian businesses often take on when borrowing from foreign banks. The funding will also increase the time horizon of the loans that MTBank offers its clients. In addition to the funding, EBRD will provide technical assistance to help end-clients of MTBank become “more competitive and resilient.” MTBank was founded in 1994 and operates 127 branches as of 2020. Financial data on the bank is published in Belarusian at https://2017.mtbank.by/report-2/.

Founded in 1991, EBRD seeks to support a “transition to open, market economies, whilst fostering sustainable and inclusive growth” in 38 countries in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and North Africa. It does this by providing business advice, supporting trade finance, and investing debt and equity in funders of MSMEs. With a focus on “the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiative,” the bank plans to disburse about EUR 8 billion (USD 8.6 billion) during 2020 to grow its portfolio to about EUR 48.5 billion (USD 52.4 billion). EBRD’s shareholders comprise 69 countries plus the EU.

Sources and Additional Resources

EBRD press release
https://www.ebrd.com/news/2020/ebrd-loan-brings-new-finance-opportunities-for-belarusian-msmes-.html

MTBank homepage
https://www.mtbank.by

EBRD in Belarus webpage
https://www.ebrd.com/belarus.html

Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at http://www.microcapital.org/products-page/.