Türk Eximbank signed a loan agreement worth 120 million euros ($146.2 million) with a consortium of international banks, under the guarantee of the World Bank Group's lending arm, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
Including a two-year grace period, a 10-year term loan was provided by Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch and ING European Financial Services PLC, according to Eximbank's statement on Friday.
The IBRD provided a guaranteed limit of 250 million euros in June 2020 for Eximbank, and 190 million euros of this limit was used in the next month alone. The remaining 60 million euros were used for this most recent transaction.
All of these loans will be utilized for the bank's sustainability targets, and at least 10% of the total amount will be allocated towards majority female-owned exporting companies and private companies that contribute to women's labor force participation.
Some 70% of the total loan will also be used for financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Ali Güney, the general manager of Eximbank, said this 10-year term transaction during the pandemic is a result of the trust Turkey attracts in international markets.
Türk Eximbank took steps last year to enhance international cooperation with several organizations.
In December, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), one of Africa's major regional financial institutions to promote bilateral trade with its 22 member countries.
It also focuses on increasing the number of reinsurance deals to pave the way for Turkish companies to undertake more projects abroad.
It inked a reinsurance cooperation agreement with Denmark’s export credit agency, EKF Danmarks Eksportkredit (EKF), in August 2020 and Austria’s official export support institution OeKB Gruppe in February.