Announcement of Second IFC Sri Lanka Loan for Medium-Scale Industry on July 20, 1981

Intern iational' iiani cc Coiou riOl 1 IF'C resRelease M a, July '2C Second IFC Sri Lanka Loan For Medium-cale Industry A $5 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (TFC) will help continue and expand Bank of Ceylon's promotion and development of medium- scale enterprises in Sri Lanka through strengthening the Bank's project appraisal and business advisory services capabilities. The financing is IFC's second for the Bank's small and medium-scale enterprises program -- in 1978 the Corporation loaned (2 million for a similar project. The latest loan is part of a $17 million joint project with Bank of Ceylon which will provide $10 million in short a long-term funds and will ielp mobilise at least an additional $2 million from other external sources. Besides helping to finance Sri Lankan companies in the $85,000 to $1 mil- lion asset range, the Bank of Ceylon program offers client companies a complete spectrum of banking services, through its local network of over 155 fuill-service branches, and business advisory services, including assistance in accounting and financial management,imarketing, production management, inventory control, t a- tion and legal matters. Additional support for the medium-scale enterprises project will be pro- vided by the United Nations Development Programme. UNDP is expected to continue to arrange funding for two full-time experts who will assist Bank of Ceylon in improving its appraisal and supervision procedures, and in the organization and provision of its business advisory services. Approximately 80 medium-scale private enterprises in the agroindustry, manufacturing and construction sectors are expected to benefit from the project, and an estimated 5,500 jobs will be created as a result. TFC, an international development institution, assisted t'e Bank ol Ceylon in the design and development of the medium-scale industrial enterprise project. It helped identify appropriate target markets and set up related operating and credit policies and assisted in securing appropriate external technical resources and personnel for the implementation of the project. [Any inquiries strictly relating to IFC's participation in this project should be directed to the IFC Information Office, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, Telephone (202) 676-0394.]