OFID Supports Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery Of MSMEs With $35 Million In El Salvador

OFID supports post-COVID-19 economic recovery of MSMEs with $35 million in El Salvador

VIENNA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 19th Oct, 2021) The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has announced the signing of a US$35 million loan agreement with Banco de Desarrollo de El Salvador (BANDESAL).

The agreement aims at supporting the post-COVID-19 economic recovery of El Salvadoran micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

BANDESAL is the Development Bank of the Republic of El Salvador and particularly focuses on lending to MSMEs for boosting development and business resumption of productive sectors affected by the pandemic.

The OPEC Fund’s loan will provide credit lines to finance existing and new businesses and is expected to help create more than 4,500 new jobs and preserve 8,000 existing jobs across all sectors. SMEs in Latin-America region comprise as much as 99.

5 percent of all businesses; generate 60 percent of the employment, and 25 percent of the GDP.

The OPEC Fund Director-General, Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, commented, "We are pleased to partner with BANDESAL, the government of El Salvador and other international development finance institutions in a collective effort to provide much needed funding and liquidity to small and medium businesses in the country.

"By joining forces through cooperation, we are bolstering the economy and helping El Salvadorians to sustain and revive their businesses and jobs."

OFID was established in January 1976 by the then 13 member countries of OPEC; including the United Arab Emirates. It is the development finance institution established as a channel of aid to developing countries.