LIMA, Sept 30 (NNN-ANDINA) — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) granted a US$100 million loan to Peru’s Development Finance Corporation (COFIDE) to allow more micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those owned or led by women, to secure financing for productive investment.
The multilateral financial institution reported that the Program for Financing Female Entrepreneurs in Peru seeks to narrow the gender gap in this business segment, which has the largest barriers to accessing credit.
The program will benefit more than 8,500 MSMEs, over 5,000 of which will be headed by female entrepreneurs.
The IDB explained that the loan’s resources will be allocated according to the characteristics of female entrepreneurs in Peru, where most MSMEs are clustered in the trade and services sectors.
As a result, there is expected to be greater market demand from companies in these segments.
COFIDE, Peru’s leading wholesale bank and the program’s executing agency, will distribute financing for MSMEs through intermediary financial institutions, it stated.
The program will seek to drive economic growth among MSMEs, especially those owned by women, by boosting their average revenue.
The program also aims to tackle climate change by allocating at least 5% of its resources (US$5 million) to financing climate action investments made by MSMEs.
The program will provide technical support focused on strengthening and scaling up institutional capacities to counteract the supply-side barriers faced by MSMEs headed by women.
This support includes adapting products to address non-financial considerations, reporting data disaggregated by sex, and providing a better understanding of entrepreneurial women as a segment.
The US$100 million IDB loan has a 24.5-year repayment period, a 6-year grace period, and an interest rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
Established in 1959, the Inter-American Development Bank is a leading source of long-term financing for economic, social, and institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance, and training to public and private sector clients throughout the region. — NNN-ANDINA
