The International Finance Corporation or IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has kicked off fiscal year 2018 in Turkey on a strong note, investing $430 million in long-term finance in Turkish companies and providing $250 million in trade finance lines to banks up to date.
The IFC continued its strong support for Turkish banks helping to revive the covered bonds market, boost access to finance for businesses and introducing green mortgages. The IFC invested the equivalent of a total of $300 million in Turkish lira in covered bonds issued by Yapı Kredi Bankası and Akbank in October, to help boost the residential mortgage sector, including the development of green buildings.
The IFC also provided a seven-year loan of up to $100 million to Tüpraş, Turkey's oil refiner and the largest industrial company, to support the company's investment plans concerning environmental upgrades, efficiency improvement and research & development activities. The IFC also arranged a $25 million loan to Nobel Ilac, a leading pharmaceutical company and the country's only net exporter in the sector, to help meet growing demand for innovative, affordable and high-quality medicine.
"Turkey has an agile, flexible and entrepreneurial private sector, which has been a major driving force behind its growth," said IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia Tomasz Telma. "To maintain momentum and build on the economic successes of the past decades, Turkey needs to further develop its strengths and tackle its challenges, including increasing financial inclusion, global integration and competitiveness. We remain committed to continuing to help Turkey reach its development goals."
The IFC's work this fiscal year builds on strong results in fiscal year 2017, which ended on June 30, in which it delivered a remarkable $1.2 billion in long-term finance and equity investments, as well as $860 million in short-term trade finance to support Turkey's private sector.
The IFC also made a strong contribution to Turkey's healthcare public-private-partnership program, becoming an anchor investor with 80 million euros in a bond issue to support the development of a 1,000-bed integrated health campus in southeastern province Elazığ. In addition, the IFC continued to work with Odeabank, Şekerbank, Finans Leasing, Garanti Bankası and Akbank with projects to further deepen Turkey's capital markets.
Turkey is the IFC's second-largest country exposure globally with a $5.9 billion committed portfolio, and the IFC's office in Istanbul, established 30 years ago, is its largest outside Washington and an operational hub. Since its first investment over half a century ago, the IFC has supported Turkey's private sector with $14.2 billion in investments in more than 350 projects.
The World Bank Group and the government of Turkey have renewed their partnership with the introduction of a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) approved in August by the bank's Board of Executive Directors.
The IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, it uses capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. According to the body, for fiscal year 2017, "We delivered a record $19.3 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to help end poverty and boost shared prosperity." The IFC's Istanbul office was the location of the IFC's first Operations Center outside Washington, D.C. It serves Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
