Türk Eximbank, the state-owned bank that supports the country's exporters, has allocated some $200 million for nine leasing companies through Eximbank's credit support protocol, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said Monday.

"We hope to increase the number of participant leasing companies and limits in this package as soon as possible," she said in her address at a ceremony in Ankara.

During the ceremony, held under the auspices of Trade Minister Pekcan, Türk Eximbank General Manager Adnan Yıldırım, Garanti Leasing General Manager and the Association of Financial Institutions Leasing Sector President Ünal Gökmen signed a financing protocol of $200 million covering nine leasing companies.

Within the framework of the Turkish Eximbank Financial Leasing Companies Loan Program, a portion of Türk Eximbank's resources will be used to finance the financial leasing investments of exporting firms through leasing companies. Thus, medium-term machinery and equipment investments of exporters, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can be financed by the cost-effective resources of Turk Eximbank.

The loans to be used within the scope of the program will be extended with a maximum one-year grace period and a maturity of up to four years.

In the first phase, nine companies, namely AKLease, DenizLeasing, ING Leasing, İş Leasing, QNB FinansLeasing, Yapı Kredi Financial Leasing, Halk Leasing and Vakıf Leasing, have been included in the protocol. The number of financial leasing companies in question will be increased in the coming period with the resources allocated for the program.

Meanwhile, Türk Eximbank will gradually implement new warranty and insurance programs in the remainder of the year. In 2019, Türk Eximbank aims to provide a total of $48.4 billion in financing support, including $29.4 billion in cash and $19 billion in insurance, with an increase of 10 percent, thus raising the export financing rate to 27 percent.