OFID extends first-ever trade finance loan to El Salvador

Vienna, Austria, May 6, 2015. The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has signed a US$10m loan with Banco Hipotecario, El Salvador. The loan represents the first of its kind in the Central American country. The funds are primarily intended to increase access to credit for international trade operations of SMEs and agribusinesses.

Since the implementation of the mechanism for financing trade in 2006, OFID has committed substantial resources to support the financial sector of developing countries. For OFID, economic growth is an essential driving force for poverty reduction, and it is vital to support this growth with an efficient financial system that allows the effective transaction of goods and employment generation.

Banco Hipotecario has 80 years of experience and established activities in trade financing over 20 years ago. The bank has been expanding its services to the SME sector, which accounts for around 55% of its loan portfolio.

OFID is a financial institution that contributes to the alleviation of poverty in all the disadvantaged regions of the world, through loans that favor the development of basic infrastructure, the provision of social services and the progress on trade and competitiveness in the different regions.

The agreement was signed by OFID Director-General Suleiman J Al-Herbish and President of Banco Hipotecario Nora Mercedes Miranda Lopez.