IFC Approves CentAm Bank Equity and Loan

IFC has made a $70m equity investment in Guatemala’s Banco G&T Continental, seeking to expand the bank’s services to small and medium enterprises in Central America, IFC says. The investment is consistent with IFC’s strategy in CentAm of helping to develop financial markets and promoting access to finance for SMEs, the multilateral adds. Banco G&T Continental has operations in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama. The multilateral also announced a $50m loan to Costa Rican household good and electronics retailer Grupo Monge to expand operations in CentAm and increase access to consumer credit for low income costumers. IFC’s total committed portfolio in Central America as of May 2008 was $719m, the multilateral says.