Laos, May, 25 2021 - The proposed loan would be issued as a three-year senior local currency loan worth up to roughly $10 million. The loan is to help provide local currency loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Laos that have been affected by the Covid-19 global pandemic.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister organisation of the World Bank Group that facilitates private sector investments, is considering a $10 million loan to ACLEDA Bank Laos Ltd (ABL), it has been disclosed.

The proposed loan would be given directly from the account of the IFC and would be issued as a three-year senior local currency loan worth up to roughly $10 million. The loan is to help provide local currency loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Laos that have been affected by the Covid-19 global pandemic.

ABL is a wholly owned subsidiary of ACLEDA Bank Cambodia LTD, with 99.9 percent held by the bank, with the other 0.1 percent held by the ACLEDA Institute of Business.

Last March the IFC proposed an investment of up to $200 million in ACLEDA Cambodia, so that it could expand its lending capabilities to SMEs in the Kingdom.

ACLEDA was started in 1993 and has since expanded into one of Cambodia’s leading commercial banks. Based in Phnom Penh, ACLEDA has more than 261 branches and offices throughout Cambodia, as well as 42 in Laos and seven in Myanmar. The bank has been listed on the Cambodian stock exchange since May 25, 2020.

According to a disclosure published by the IFC, it has worked with ACLEDA for more than 15 years. Through investment and advisory support, the IFC has helped the company grow into one of the largest commercial banks and microcredit providers in the Kingdom, as well as fuel its expansion into Laos and Myanmar.

Prior to the recent suggested investments, the IFC previously supplied ACLEDA with a $50 million loan in 2016, as well as a $90 million loan in 2019.