The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement to provide a $50 million project finance facility to Oyak Bank in Turkey.
This is IFC's second loan to Oyak Bank, the first being a $40 million syndicated facility which was fully repaid in June 2003. Oyak Bank is the flagship of the Oyak Group — one of the largest institutional investors in Turkey with subsidiaries and affiliates in several sectors in the automotive, cement, financial services and chemical sectors.
"This investment is a direct response to some of the most urgent needs of the Turkish banking sector for longer term funds,” said Director of IFC's Global Financial Markets Department, Declan Duff. “IFC's proposed investment is expected to provide term funding to a Turkish bank at a time when such funding is particularly scarce."
IFC's portfolio in Turkey, including amounts mobilized from commercial banks, stood at $968.5 million as of end December 2003. Turkey is the third largest exposure in IFC's portfolio of investments. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
